Luminescence
by LoweFantasy
Summary: The moon vanishes, corrupted Twili attack, and an amnesic, mute, but beautiful feathered girl appears with the sole intention of making Link happy. Link, however, is more concerned with the possibilities of returning to the twilight realm to Midna. But it becomes much darker than that when there is no moon to shine in the cold night, and lovers are not what they seem. MidnaXLinkXOC
1. In Feathers and Dew

Luminescence

By LoweFantasy

Chapter 1: In Feathers and Dew

She came to him bathed in moonlight. Her hair and feathers glowed in the night like the white mane of Epona. Feathers. Even as he looked at her he couldn't tell why he saw feathers, for everything held a dream-like blur that fuzzed over his vision. Now and then he'd see splotches of clearness: a shifting branch; curved, petite lips, and once the familiar tinkling of spring water.

Her soft, ringing voice carried over to him in words he couldn't understand. They were ancient words. Nevertheless, their music vibrated something deep and wild within him.

"_Who are you?_"

The sound of his own voice startled him awake and he lay there blinking in confusion. The grey light of dawn filled his room. For a minute he didn't move and simply listened to the fire crackling in the corner as he gathered his thoughts. _What a strange dream. _Not that he wasn't use to strange dreams. Being the chosen hero warranted plenty of those.

Thus, he ignored it, and turned over to get some more sleep before-

"Hey!"

He groaned.

"Rise and shine, Link! There's some goats that need'a milk'n! You know the drill!"

He groaned again, this time louder hoping his boss would hear. Sadly, he didn't, but kept shouting up at him.

"You're a grown man, kid! It's time to start acting like one, and that includes waking up on your own!"

Apparently, saving the world didn't count for 'acting like an adult.' He rubbed his palms hard over his eyes, feeling every bit of grit.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." he yelled out his window. Down below at the foot of his tree house stood a rustic, grizzled man wearing a matching frown.

"Good. I'll be back at the ranch. I better see you in ten minutes, got that?"

"Yeah yeah."

"What was that?!"

"I said I'll be there!"

Rolling out of bed (more like oozing like a chu-chu), Link, savior of Hyrule and chosen hero of the gods, flopped to the floor in his underwear. Still digging his palms into his eyes in attempts to rub the fuzz from them, he felt his way to the ladder and climbed down to the rest of the den. With a yawn he dropped his hands and begun searching for his clothes.

"I still don't get why the stupid goats can't wait," he grumbled, "I doubt they'd be against getting a few more hours of sleep themselves."

Not that he would know. Right? The thought made him chuckle and yet sad at the same time. Shaking off the memories of paws, fur, and the titter of animal voices, he tied on his girdle and begun the quest for his boots. It had been an entire year since he had last been a wolf as well as seen one of his strangest, yet best friends. He shook the thoughts from his head before they got any farther. It would be a shame to start an already groggy day with a depression.

Epona nickered at him when he dropped down from his house. A hunk of cheese stuck out of his mouth. Her attention, however, was to the apple in his hand.

"Here you go, buddy. Breakfast" he proffered the apple to her, which she munched up in one gulp. As he picked up his saddle and begun tightening it about her, his eyes spotted her white mane and tail. Briefly, he wondered to the moonlit creature of his dreams. He then wondered why, though his adventure had long ago ended, did he still feel uncompleted? Like…there was still something left for him to do. The itch made it difficult for him to find sleep at night, which was part of the reason waking up in the morning was such a chore now a days. It would eventually go away, he knew, for he had figured the affect of facing up against nightmarish creatures just lingered longer then he supposed.

Tugging the last strap, he pulled himself onto his horse.

! #$#^%**&^%$ #$%^&**(&^%$#

In the lingering moments of morning twilight, where the darkness meets the light, a white blur dashed through the forest. Needles and bark rained to the ground behind it just to be swept aside by black pursuers. A lone squirrel dropped its nut as the pursuit flashed by. It blinked. Then cursed in whatever language squirrels had and gave chase after the plump acorn.

No sooner had it touched ground when it felt the earth tremble beneath its paws. It squeaked, fur on end. Goodness, what was happening today? No sooner had it thought this then crashes and strange, unearthly screams shook the forest. Bushes shook, grasses waved, and trees shuddered. When a few sickly trees began to topple, the squirrel screamed and dashed up the tree. Forget the stupid acorn, it was getting out of here! A dozen or so other forest creatures followed suit, scurrying into holes and up their respective trees. Birds twittered in fright.

A deafening silence followed.

After who knows how long (for squirrels don't really have a need to keep track of time passing), the squirrel poked its head out from whatever nick in the tree it had found to hole up and sniffed the air. Yes. Something peculiar was floating on the breeze. A second later it's fluffed up fur quivered up, if possible, even farther as it recognized the smell: blood. The squirrel shivered before climbing higher up the tree. Better not get too close to the ground for today, it figured. It could only pray that its precious nut would still be there by the time everything settled down.

Little did it know that only yards away, surrounded by crushed black bodies, a slender figure with white feathers stumbled to her feet.

! #$#$%^$^*^&%$# #$#%&^%^#$

Twilight. He hated this time of day. Everything glowed amber in the newly set sun and the air felt cool with oncoming night. Before him goats got in some last minute grazing. He sighed and turned his attention back to his sketchpad. For the past hour he hadn't been completely aware of what he had been drawing. When he saw the half-formed shape of a dusky woman his stomach twisted violently and he tore the page out. This was the only downside to his job: it gave him too much time to think about her. If she could see how he was now, whew, boy, wouldn't she laugh herself silly. He could almost hear her voice, which still held its impish quality.

_'If I had known I had such an effect on you light dwellers, I would have sauntered my sexy self over years ago!'_

_Yeah yeah. Get over yourself._ But of course, then she wouldn't be Midna, now, would she? A familiar ache filled him and he bent his head between his knees. There was still so much he didn't understand about her, even a year later. Like: why had she shattered the mirror of twilight? Even after Zelda gave her little speel about how both their worlds needed each other and all that? But whatever…thinking about it wasn't doing him any good.

Thankfully, Ilia ran up to him just then. He could recognize her footsteps anywhere and was grateful for the distraction from his moping. As he looked up he felt faintly alarmed at her breathlessness.

"Is something up? Why'd you run here?"

She shrugged. "Just felt like running. Father had me stuck in the house all day cleaning up after the Sorens. Din, I can't wait till they have their own stinking house!"

The Sorens were a family of refugees who had come last year to get away from the chaos that was Hyrule. When everything settled down, they had taken a liking to Ordon and had officially decided to settle in. Ilia and her father, having the largest house in the village, offered to house them until they could finish their own home. Annoyingly, though the couple and their four sons were very nice, they were also very…what was the right word?

"The stupid thing would be done by now if they would just get off their butts and get to it! I mean, you'd think with four mostly grown sons they'd have had it done in no time but noooo! Their so Din lazy!"

Ah, that was the word. He had been looking for something more powerful though.

"You did this to yourself, you know."

"Don't start on me, mister."

He smirked. "What was it again that made you so compassionate? Ah yes, 'those thighs'—"

Though he knew it was coming, it didn't make her punch to shoulder any less painful. He laughed anyways. The bright reddening of her face was so worth the pain.

"Shut up," she snapped, "I already told you I don't like Darren. He's a worthless, pathetic, unsanitary, lazy—"

"—irresistible, handsome—"

"I said _shut up!_"

"Those _thighs._" He wriggled his eyebrows. He couldn't help it. The memory those words brought to him had to be the funniest thing he had ever heard; the uptight, strict, prissy Ilia drooling and praising a man's _thighs_ of all things.

The second punch hurt too.

"For the love of Nayru, when are you going to grow up, Link?"

"Funny you should ask. It seems to be a theme for me today."

She gave a loud, exasperated sigh. "Do you want me to tell you what I came here to say or not?"

"Sure, shoot."

"Rusl wanted me to tell you that a message came for you earlier today. He intercepted them close to the edge of the woods and is holding it for you, so head down to his house when you're done for the day."

"Why didn't he just come tell me himself?"

But Ilia didn't answer. For an amusing and frightening moment, he thought she had spontaneously taken a liking to his thighs as well for her attention had gone to something in that area. Before he could properly quip something at her for this, she reached down a picked up a ball of paper.

All his innards froze.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Trash!" he said, a bit too forcefully, and launched for it. With agility he didn't know she possessed, she dodged him. A wicked smile spread across her face.

"Oh really?"

He tried to get it back, but again she evaded him. Horror came over him as she begun to unfold it.

"Please, Ilia, really, it's-"

"Wow, goodness," her eyes were sparkling. "Who's this babe? I didn't even think you liked women yet, Linky-poo."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm nineteen not ten, and how many times have I begged you not to call me that?"

"Zero. Ever since you brought up Darren's thigh crap."

"How can you expect me not to make fun of that? That was priceless!"

"It didn't happen, that's why."

"You wish."

Her cruel smile gave a twitch. Clearly withholding the urge to punch him again, she waved the picture of Midna from her fingers. Even from the short distance he could see the rolling curves he had drawn for her legs and blushed.

"Just…someone from my travels."

"Just someone from your travels? Really? Come on, she can't just be a random someone, I mean, look at her! Not even I would forget a face like that."

"I don't want to talk about it."

But this just made her more excited.

"Why? Did she dump you?"

"There wasn't anything to be dumped from in the first place. Will you just give me back the picture?"

But that seemed to be all she needed to hear, for she nodded sagely. "I get it. You liked her, didn't you? But she didn't like you."

Without warning he dove out, snapping the picture from her grasp. She may have caught him off guard one time, but he would always have the faster reflexes. She pouted as he stuffed the wad of paper into his shirt.

"Aren't you going to tell me anything?"

"No." he said shortly. In the distance he could see Fado coming over to help usher the goats in for the night. The sky had begun to purple.

Any trace of a smile melted away from Ilia's face. She considered him sadly and he grew uncomfortable. He knew that look. He tried to avoid looking at it by picking up his art supplies and stuffing them into his pack. As he did so, his fingers brushed against the sheath of his goat-horn sword he had brought out of paranoid habit. She also spotted this and her eyebrows furrowed higher.

"I'm worried about you. Ever since you came back you've been…different."

"How could I not be different, Ilia? Honestly, have _you_ ever killed someone?"

She flinched horribly at this, and instantly he felt guilty. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh. He hadn't meant to say those words at all. It had just popped out of him without warning. What had brought that on anyways? When had this conversation turned out so bad?

He tried to give her his most apologetic expression. To this she blinked furiously and looked down.

"You just…you just never really talk to me anymore."

"What do you mean? Of course I do."

"Not like that," she said quickly, "it's just…I don't know what goes on inside your head. You're so closed off. It's like I almost…don't know you anymore. I thought we were best friends."

"Of course we are! Ah, Din, I'm so sorry for what I said. I don't know what came over me."

"It's all right." With a carefully concealed sniff she lifted her head to give him a reassuring smile. "Link, there was…there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah?"

"Well, we are getting older now. It's been a while since we could really be considered children. Today my father brought this up, and he…" suddenly she blushed, deeper and redder than he could remember. She was looking off to the side to avoid his gaze when she gasped, her eyes widening. At that same moment Fado gave a shout and came in their direction at a run.

Stomach leaping, he instinctively reached for his sword and spun around with a hiss of metal. Goats bleated nervously.

Where the forest met the cliff side hugged by the ranch, a white figure hobbled. For a second he couldn't process what it was he was seeing. He could make out a human-shape, but then what were those white lumps shrouding and morphing around it? Even as he watched the creature stumbled against a tree. He thought he could make out pale arms clinging to it.

"It's hurt!" cried Ilia. Before he had the chance to tell her to be cautious, she dashed forward, meeting up with Fado. Cursing, he ran after them, holding his sword out to the side. Goats fled from before them.

It didn't take him much longer to realize the thing wasn't an 'it', but a she, and found himself slowing down as a shocked twitter shook his frame. It was a young _woman_, trembling on fawn-like legs-and mostly naked.

Fado staggered to a halt on realizing this as well. But it wasn't the alarming amount of bare skin that had caught his attention.

"Wings." Link heard him breathe.

Sure enough, white wings draped down her back in great feathery cascades down to the forest floor. In the darkening dusk her whiteness seemed to glow. Something tickled in the back of his mind.

Ilia reached her first, but stood frozen to the spot, staring. Link did his best not to stare as well (for a whole other reason than Ilia, for sure), as he took in the damage. Blood trickled down her legs from the remains of a ragged skirt and he could see the gash at her side from whence it came. The fingers clutching the bark were also dyed red with blood. Scratches crisscrossed across her pale, milky skin, and he could already see the beginnings of nasty bruises peppering her arms and torso. As he approached she looked up through a long, messy mane of white hair. He got a glimpse of glassy blue eyes before they rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed to the forest floor in a heap of feathers and limbs. Ilia rushed forward to catch her.

"Don't just stand there gawking, perverts!" she shouted, "Get over here and help me!"

The men snapped back into focus and hesitantly approached the scowling mayor's daughter, with Link sheathing his sword. From behind them a few goats looked on curiously and Epona peered out from around the fence, sniffing the air. The mare shuffled nervously at the scent of blood. Somewhere a few trees a way, a squirrel watched, clutching a fat acorn to its chest. The end of its tail twitched.

**Author's Note: for you that know me, I like to update at least once a week. You can expect the next chapter next week. At least, that is what I am going to try to do. Please, give me some reviews on what you think! It's good to know what people think at the beginning of a story. Good research, that is. **


	2. Moon Spirit

**Author's Sidenote: Man, this second chapter was hard. As with all my stories, these are very rough first drafts. Though I do my best to comply with fanfiction regulations and keep out major errors in spelling and grammar and all that jazz, it isn't going to be published quality. I hope you enjoy the story itself, however. Please, let me know what you think about the plot and characters and what you like or hate. ^.^ It will help me learn more about what **_**you **_**like and what things people like to see in stories. Feel free to email me about whatever. These stories are for you. I also do my best to update at least once a week so you don't have to wait forever for the story to continue. I hate waiting. I figured, why would you hate it any less?**

**Anyhoo, I'll get out of your hair now. Please, enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Moon Spirit

They took her to the nearest thing to a physician they had: Bo. There was a reason why Ilia's father had become the unspoken leader of the town besides the obvious. The man knew things. Among those things was a respectable amount of knowledge about fixing people up. Link could have done a good deal for the strange girl as well, having had to deal with wounds more times than he cared to count on his own adventures, but he was not stupid enough to offer his help with the girl mostly naked and all. Ilia wouldn't even let him carry the girl, even though he knew he was probably stronger than the much older Fado. The whole way he could catch her peeking over at him suspiciously. He wasn't _that _immature. Why did everyone think he was? Saving Hyrule does merit a bit of personal growth, for Farore's sake!

Nevertheless, she continued to keep a watchful eye on him until she disappeared behind a curtain with her father. The last think Link saw of the peculiar girl was her train of feathers vanishing behind the rug. Fido left there after (probably to yell to the whole town that they had found a freak), and Link was left in relative peace.

That was, however, until three of the Sorens boys came down from the stairs with a hoot a second later. For the next nerve racking half hour he had to deal with the three of them whistling and making jibs at the fact the girl had been naked. They didn't seem to catch the fact she had wings. If they did, they didn't care. Boobs and butts were far more interesting. And they insisted on nagging him for details that would make the most corrupted man blush.

Again—they called _him_ immature?

Link considered himself a patience fellow. Sitting and waiting on goats most days demanded patience. But by the time their weary mother finally came in from outside, his hands had already risen to throttle the guy nearest to him. The boy had the worst acne he had ever seen and he had already imagined squeezing the kid's neck so hard every pimple would burst. Despite the entrance of their mother, the two younger boys behind him started up a war chant on how Link was gay—and not just normal gay, but gayer than the gayest man alive, for he obviously lacked the capacity to appreciate the art of a naked woman.

He couldn't help but snarl. _Irritating, annoying, idiotic bastards…_

"Now boys," said their mother as stern as her hoarse voice could handle, "please, for once, can you control yourselves? Your father needs you north of Jaggle's tree. They've managed to get a rather big buck and they need help cleaning it up."

At the mention of blood and guts the boys crowed for joy and crowded out the door. In their rush Link thought to throw in a punch, but conveniently missed. His chest rumbled with growls.

Ms. Sorens apologized profusely, but the words were over-used and tired. His sympathy for her sapped away his anger and he a grunted 'it's fine'. During all the hubbub he had had no time to worry or wonder about the winged girl. Where had she come from? What was she? And what had happened to her?

At the thought he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword at his hip and squeezed it. A familiar sense of foreboding tickled the back of his mind.

Quite some time later, Ilia walked out, blood flecked on her sleeves and hands. Her anxiety wore on every line in her face.

"What do you know of the healing powers of the spirit at the spring?"

Link raised an eyebrow. "I take it she's not doing well?"

She bit her lip. With a jerking motion, she shook her head. He could feel his gut clench and stood up without another thought.

"Let's take her to the spring. I don't know whether Ordona will feel obligated to heal her or not, but if nothing the waters should help."

Ilia nodded and went to the curtain. Moments later, Bo came out grimly carrying the limp figure of the girl with her large wings folded about her like a cocoon. She had been clumsily dressed in one of Ilia's nightgowns, though they had left the back unbuttoned for her wings. Bandages crisscrossed her arms and legs as well as one, great wing. The sight of her once more stunned him, and for a moment he merely stood there and stared. Amidst all the feathers he could make out a bit of her face. It was smooth and pale. He recalled her big blue eyes.

It didn't take long to walk to the springs in the night. Crickets sung all about them and he could smell the growing dew in the air. Some of the villagers watched from their doorways as they passed. All stared unabashedly. It made his skin crawl for some reason.

"Just…how bad is she?" he asked Ilia.

Again, she gnawed on her lip. "Bad. She's lost a lot of blood and the gash on her side is pretty deep. Also one of her wings is broken. But…goddesses, Link, she's so beautiful. You should have felt those feathers. They're softer than anything I've ever felt."

He looked up at Bo to see said feathers peeking out from his arms.

"Do you know what she is?" she asked.

"No. But I…"

"But what?"

"I think I've sort of…seen her before."

"How can you 'sort of' see someone? Honestly."

He hesitated, debating on stopping while he was ahead. However, he remembered Ilia's complaint of him never opening up to her, and forced the truth through.

"I had a dream about her last night. I think."

To half his surprise and half his expectation, she smirked.

"Was it love at first sight?"

"By Farore, isn't it weirder to you that I actually dreamt about her?"

"Not really. You are the fancy chosen one and all. Doesn't that just come with the job?"

He wondered if being kidnapped by bulblins and getting smacked with amnesia had killed her sense of the strange.

"Aren't you in the least bit weirded out by all this?"

"Of course I am! But at the moment all we need to be concerned about is helping her through." she glanced back at the lights of the village they were leaving behind.

Link, his attention on what he could see of the girl around Bo's arms, silently agreed. Then, in the light of the lamp he carried, he noticed something peculiar. The forest around them was dark. Too dark. Heart picking up a notch he looked up into the sky to find it black as well. Only a few stars shown strong enough past the light of his lamp. Ilia frowned at his expression.

"What are you looking at?"

"The moon." His eyes narrowed. "There's no moon."

"No need to sound so dramatic. It's probably just a new moon tonight."

"Last night was a full moon, though."

And he remembered this very distinctly, for he had spent a good deal of his sleepless hours gazing up into it and wishing he could howl once more in its light. Just to be sure, however, he scanned the tree line and the edges of the forests for a trace of silver.

"Maybe it just hasn't risen yet." she said.

"Full moons rise early, don't you know that?"

She gave him a peculiar look. "Since when have you been so into the moon cycle?"

But the hairs on the back of his neck had prickled. The sensation was far too familiar. His old instincts tingled at something in the air and he looked around restlessly.

By the time they had reached Ordon Spring his fingers ached from clenching the handle of his sword. Ilia looked to be a bit on edge as well as she helped her father lower the winged girl into the waters. They glistened orange beneath his lamplight.

He wasn't ready for the water to begin glowing at the touch of her body. Bo leapt back in surprise, yet his daughter forced herself to stay still to hold up the girls head above the water. Gold light glistened off her form. The winged girl, however, just seemed white; white and luminescent as though the moon still shone.

"Goddesses!" cried Ilia, mouth agape, but otherwise speechless.

Something tickled at the back of his mind. The hairs all over his body stood on end as metallic noise rattled behind him.

He whirled around with a whip of his unsheathed sword. Where the light from the spring ended and the darkness begun, an inhuman face reflected back the light; metal, flat, and riveted with black symbols. The flat face cocked to the side. Red lines spidered across its otherwise invisible, black body.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe. It had been so long since he had seen a creature of the Twili. The corrupted being of twilight stumbled slowly towards him, rattling all the way. It didn't move right. It seemed…injured. And where were the rest? There was never just one Twili. He knew that all too well.

A scream erupted behind him. Ilia had finally noticed the creature. It grew agitated at the sound and paused in the light to rattle its plate-head faster.

"Shut up!" he hissed behind him. He clenched his right hand and cursed the lack of his shield. Well, better kill it quick while it was the odd one before—

Too late. The Twili threw its head back and gave the most unearthly, blood chilling screech. He winced and jerked his hands to his ears. His entire body had seized up at the sound.

The moment it ran out of breath he scrambled forward, sword held high—teeth clenched. He tried his best to ignore the growing lines of red appearing in the darkness. The eyeless plate just watched him. It fell underneath his sword without complaint and far too quickly. So it had already been weakened. But why?

"_Link!_"

Somehow, faster than shadows themselves, the resurrected Twili had dashed past him, ignoring him completely to make a beeline for Ilia and the winged girl. He cursed and ran back, but he knew he wouldn't make it. _Not this again!_

But the moment the shadow beasts touched the water the spring exploded with brilliant light. The clearing and trees' colors shone out as though in broad daylight. He stumbled into the spring and squinted into the light. In it he could make out the gleaming form of a goat. It lowered its horns to the black creatures writhing in its light. Between his hooves lay the silvery white form of the winged girl, Bo, and Ilia.

'_Now, Hero!'_ he heard in his mind. With a war cry he tackled the first creature, blade first. They fell before him, four in all, like ash statues. When the last Twili had fallen the light finally began to dim. Ilia stared up at the great creature. She looked close to fainting. Her father simply stared, jaw to his belt.

He approached it numbly. A confused buzzed filled his mind.

"Do you," he cleared his throat, "do you know what just happened?"

The great shimmering goat shook its ragged head.

_The guardian of the gap between dimensions must be in peril, for I sense a weakening of the boundaries. The creatures of darkness must have slipped through its weakening security._

"Guardian of the gap? But…what's that?"

The goat raised its head to the sky. Sure enough, it pointed its glowing nose to the blank darkness he had noticed before.

The moon.

Instinctually, he looked to the winged girl, still giving off a faint, silvery light.

"It's her, isn't it?"

_I do not believe so,_ said Ordona, to Link's surprise. He had been so sure he was right. _This girl looks nothing like the moon spirit and is, most importantly, very mortal. _

He frowned to himself. "Well, what is she then?"

For the first time, he witnessed a great spirit of light hesitate. The affect was immensely unnerving.

"You don't know…?"

The goat shook its head. And then, as though to make up for the alarming lack in its infinite knowledge, it said: _but I do know that if the moon spirit is not rescued soon from whatever calamity that has fallen upon the dimensional gap, the two worlds will cease to be separate and meld together as one. All the land will be covered in twilight._

The image of Midna as he last remembered her (tall and oh so curvy), rose to his mind. He had the stupid urge to ask if a veil of twilight would be so bad, but remembered he had fought specifically to prevent that just over a year ago and mentally shook himself. He must be losing it.

Ordona had begun to flicker. It lowered its nose to the winged girl at its hooves. Ilia gawked up at its wide horns holding the shifting orb of light.

_I sensed a great light and innocence in this girl, however, and that is why I have healed her._ Link thought he could feel the great being glance at him. _That is why you have brought her to me, no?_

He nodded. The spirit continued to fade. The darkness of the night started to close in.

_I believe it would be in your best interest to watch over this girl. _

He was about to nod again, when he stopped.

"Wait! What about the moon spirit?"

_I am leaving to counsel with the other light spirits…as we speak…_

And with that, darkness resumed. He blinked furiously as his eyes adjusted. Ahead of him, Bo collapsed with a large splash.

"By golly…" he said.

But a strange, hopeful wriggle had come to life in Link's chest. At the same time his gut twisted with guilt. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be hoping for twilight of all things. It was selfish and, Din, it was stupid! He had specifically killed Zant and in turn Ganon to bring an end to a never-ending twilight, and now he was hoping for it just so he could see Midna again? What would she think of him if she could hear him now!

In the stunned silence he furiously berated himself. But by the time Bo and Ilia were ready to speak on what had just happened, the hope still fluttered in his chest like a tiny flame curving in the shape of a woman.

! #$$$%^%&^%$% #$ #$ !$##%$^$%#

On a pad of folded blankets in front of his fireplace, the winged girl lay motionless on her stomach. Though her wounds had been entirely healed, she had yet to regain consciousness. Half of his attention watched how the fire played across the girl's feathers. More than once he had given in to the temptation to touch those winter white feathers. They were just as Ilia said and softer than the finest silk. He also discovered a small, blue stone peeking out between her bangs of white hair. It had changed colors since then, however, and now looked more like dull silver. He could only guess that it was important.

She was here because Bo and Ilia had figured Link's place would be the best to store her for now until they could think of somewhere else, because at the moment their own home was filled to bursting with (horny) teenage boys and the other villagers didn't have much room to speak of either. So, not thinking much of it, Link had popped out his lift (which he usually used to bring up large things into his tree house), and pulled up the girl.

Now, here he sat, hours later and unable to sleep, staring at her. Link knew it had to be late—ungodly late by the itch in his eyes—but his mind wouldn't stay still. It kept buzzing with thoughts of Midna and images of the shadow beasts. It annoyed him. He should be wondering more about why a supposedly omniscient light spirit didn't know who let alone what this girl was, and yet all he could think about was that damn, impish smile and long Twilian legs. More than once he had growled to himself and slammed his forehead to the floor. He could already feel a bruise developing there.

A small groan broke him out of his thoughts. The feathers he had been staring at twitched and a hand rubbed at her eyes.

"Ah, look who's waking up."

She pulled back her hand and blinked up at him blearily. Her eyes were even bluer than he remembered. He smiled down at her warmly.

"'ello. How do you feel?"

She eased herself onto her knees and rustled her wings into a tight fold against her back, but didn't answer, instead choosing to examine herself through the loose fitting nightgown. When she turned her attention back up at him he got a good look at her face framed by waves of softly curling white hair. It was smooth and white as he had thought, oval, with a petite mouth and nose. The blue eyes examined him meticulously.

"Yes, that's me. The name's Link." A thought occurred to him. "Do you, uh, understand me?"

She nodded. He couldn't help but feel relieved. That made everything so much easier.

"Great! So, you hungry? You can tell me about yourself as you eat. I kept some leftover stew for you. I'm afraid it's the only thing I'm particularly good at making."

She blinked at him. Then nodded again, still without a word. Hoping he wasn't making her feel too awkward, he stood up and walked around her to the fire to grab a bowl and filled it. He could feel her gaze on his back. When he handed it to her she took it with cautious hands and sniffed it before taking an equally cautious bite. She seemed surprised at the taste.

"Good?"

She nodded again and took a bite, this time much more eagerly.

"So…you have a name?"

Pausing to chew on a bite, she shrugged.

"So, no name?"

Again, she shrugged. He was beginning to wonder if she really did understand him.

"Oh come on, you have to at least have a name! Fine then, what brought you here? Was it those shadow beasts that attacked you?"

This time, she seemed to hesitate as she lowered the bowl ever so slightly. Meeting his gaze, she gave him an uncertain expression. Then, tremulously, she opened her mouth to speak. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but when nothing came out he felt a distinct droop in his chest. He wasn't the only one, though. Rather than appear distressed, however, she just gave him a peculiar look before turning back to her stew. He thought he saw her cheeks color. He felt his stomach drop.

"You…you can't speak…can you?"

Slowly, she shook her head. Then shrugged and put the bowl of stew down. It was already empty. Talk about hungry.

Trying to dissipate the suddenly awkward sort of gloom, he reached for her bowl. "Would you like some more?"

But she didn't move. She didn't even give any indication that she had heard him.

"Can you write, at least? I have some paper up in the loft you can write with."

He took the hopeful look she gave him as a yes and jumped to his feet to get it. Once the pencil and paper were in her hands she handled them uncertainly. Then, as though etching a piece of art, she carefully scratched down some messy letters and handed the paper to him with her face bowed.

'_I know not what to say._' it read.

"How about just your name, then?"

She took back the paper from him.

'_I know not my name. And to your other question, the shadow beasts did chase me here,'_ the pencil jerked as a she seemed to have a thought, her mouth growing tight. '_How do you know of the shadow beasts? I dealt with them.'_

Link raised his eyebrow. "Dealt with them? Well, you must not know much about them, then. You can't leave a single one standing. You have to kill them all at once or else the last one resurrects the others and go chasing after other nummy folk, such as yours truly."

For the first time, her face twisted into annoyance. She practically tore the paper from his grasp to scribble, '_Of course I know that. I was sure I got the last two at the same time.'_

"How? I'm sorry, but I don't see any sword or weapon on you. Whatever you're using isn't very affective."

She pouted at him, but when he gave back the paper she just held the pencil over the page. After a few seconds she dropped the pencil to the side and sighed. From behind her the white wings rose ever so slightly to enfold her shoulders like a cape. He watched this with a sense of wonder.

"I don't mean to be rude, but, what exactly are you?"

The girl followed his gaze to her wings and tucked them back behind her self-consciously. With quivering hands she took up the pencil and wrote: '_Aren't I human?'_

The question was so odd he didn't know how to respond. At his silence she grew ill at ease. Her feathers fluffed about her and her eyes sparkled with oncoming tears. He panicked.

"Don't cry! It's okay! You look human-ish enough. It's just…I don't know any humans with wings. Not that they aren't lovely or anything. Oh man, I'm just digging a hole for myself, aren't I?"

A few tears trickled down her cheeks. He felt his stomach twist.

"You…you don't know what you are either, do you?"

Hands clenching her skirts, she shook her head.

"Do you know anything about yourself?"

Her eyes flashed and she automatically reached for the pencil again. He waited as she considered the paper before her. Then, after wiping at her face, she moved to put the pencil back down on the floor. She wouldn't meet his eye.

"Do you know anything?"

She nodded hesitantly.

"Then why don't you tell me? I may not look like it, but I could help you."

She quickly jotted down something on the paper and handed it to him. He read it eagerly, but was disappointed on how little it gave.

'_I know you could.'_

Just that line told him he wouldn't get anymore out of her that night. He scratched the back of his head and gave his own tired sigh. This whole situation had just gone from confusing to downright rude. Whatever goddess had chosen to throw this at him obviously overestimated his ability to solve puzzles. With that in mind, he couldn't help but ask one last question.

"Um, this might seem prying, but does whatever you're not telling me have to do with the goddesses? Or maybe why the moon spirit missing?"

Silence. He lowered the arm scratching his head to raise his view and saw her staring at him intently with an expression he couldn't read. Her lips quivered ever so slightly, as though dying to breathe out words to him. He held his breath. Her wings even lifted ever so slightly.

Then, all too soon, her eyes were back to the floor and her lips were pressed into a tight line. It made him want to bash his head again. At least Midna had been a talker. Wait, where did that thought come from? Him relating Midna to this winged girl because they kind of were calls to adventures? This wasn't an adventure. The girl would probably haunt his village for the rest of her life or until she remembered something. She could raise pumpkins and flutter around and…yeah, he should go to bed. He was losing it.

Rubbing his eyes and feeling every sleepy protest from them, he said, "Well then, how about we give you a name? I'm not too fond of calling you 'hey you', if you know what I mean."

The corner of her mouth twitched. Her lips were pink like almost ripe cherries. He shook the thought from his mind. All he needed now to screw his life up more was to get poetic about a bird girl.

"How about…Sarah? That's a pretty normal name."

She frowned.

"Danea?"

A pink tongue poked out.

"Marion?"

She full on scowled at this one. He pushed the paper to her.

"Very well. What do you suggest?"

For a whole minute she stared at the paper, thinking hard. In the end, however, she conceded to him for her naming by pushing the paper back. For the next fifteen minutes or so he walked names by her and watched the various creative ways she came up with to say no. Some of her expression made him smile while others made him laugh as he hadn't for a long time. He could like this girl. As they talked her wings relaxed out of their fold till they hung out the sides of her like frog legs.

On his last limb for names, he looked up where his sole window stood high up in a whimsical wish for his bed. The dark sky reminded him of how he had thought her the moon spirit. An idea came to him with that.

"How about," he looked back to her, "Luna."

At long last a wide smile dimpled her cheeks. She leaned forward on her knees. Before he knew what was happening she kissed him full on the lips and rocked back onto her blanket bed. His mouth tingled. He blinked hard. Did that really just happen? That had been…unexpected? Looking at her blushing, but happy face, he decided to not think about it. It was ostentatiously late after all.

"Luna it is."


	3. Summons

**Author's Note: Please review. ^.^ I love hearing what you think. It helps me learn more about storytelling and writing. And remember, these are serious rough drafts, so please don't send me reviews on how I used the wrong 'your.'**

Chapter 3: Summons

He still couldn't sleep. Outside it was still dark, though without the moon he couldn't estimate how soon dawn would come. The blackness, speckled with fewer stars than normal, unnerved him. What if some of the Twili were still wondering around? Would they attack the village? And what of this weakening boundary? And if Luna wasn't the moon spirit, why had she come around right when all this had begun to happen? But the question that haunted him most came with almond orange eyes with a mischievous glint.

Could Midna come through the gap as well, or vice versa?

With all these question swirling about his head along with his own self-loathing, sleep kept being shoved aside before it could take him completely. It seemed the more tired he got, the harder it became to fall asleep.

Insomnia sucked big time.

Grumbling in annoyance to himself he flung himself back on his back and pressed the balls of his hands into his eyes. Why wouldn't Fado take him seriously when he said he had a hard time sleeping? But no! The man insisted he was just trying to make excuses and that he was the same person he had been before the whole twilight fiasco. Before then he had slept in too. And Link could only furiously wonder why everyone saw him as though he had never left Ordon, never lived through hell, never killed Ganon, never left his best friend and…

A rush of air sounded, and for a brief moment he thought the door had fallen open. Then there came a soft 'whoompf' next to his bed. Something incredible soft brushed against his bare leg. Flinching in surprise, he sat up and turned.

Crouched at his bedside with her wings held out for balance was the strange, winged young woman he had named Luna. Her blue eyes twinkled despite the lack of light. In the cramped space of his loft she had a clumsy time getting her wings to fit, which had to be at least thirteen feet wide from tip to tip.

He quickly made sure his blanket was covering the important bits.

"L-Luna! You surprised me. Did you…did you fly up here?" Boy that was weird to say.

She nodded before cocking her head to the side and lifted her eyebrows in concern. He could almost read what she was saying, though her paper and pencil weren't nearby.

"What? You worried about me?"

Another nod. Then she mimicked sleeping and gave him a pointed look. He sighed.

"I just…I just have a hard time sleeping of late. It's nothing."

Her brow wrinkled nonetheless. Then, after tucking her wings back tightly, she reached out a tentative hand to him. They trembled as she gently pushed him, urging him to lie back down. Curious, he did as she insisted. When his head sat in the pillow once more, her fingers fluttered up to his face. He thought he saw the small stone on her head glow an iridescent, indistinct color before her soft fingertips brushed his eyelids closed. A peculiar, pleasant heaviness came over him.

"Wh-what are you…doing?" the last word came out a weak whisper. He couldn't have opened his eyes even if he wanted too. For a second a panic born of instinct came over him. He couldn't move! So tired, so…sleepy. But even as the panic rose, words were spoken—no, sung, for no voice could speak so heavenly—and calm as he hadn't known for years melted him. They could have been the words of a mother.

_Hush, my boy. Hush. The night has nothing to fear. _

With the ease of a babe he slipped into dreams of pleasant things: grass, soft horse hair, bright blue skies, and ever the sense of peace and safety. In them he ran without worrying about sore joints from sleepless nights of fighting. He didn't worry about sleeping or looking over his shoulder for signs of…what? He had never noticed how anxious he had become since returning home. Now he simply walked about, enjoying all he loved. Yet, wherever he went there was a flash of white out of the corner of his eyes. Each time he moved to look, but never caught what it was. He didn't fear, however. Somehow he knew, whatever it was, it was kind, soft, and protective.

Then, quite abruptly, he was looking at the dark underside of his eyelids. Someone was calling his name. Something warm and heavy pressed in on his side. Groaning a bit, he opened his eyes to meet the confused, though amused, face of the closest thing he had to a father: Rusl.

"So…" he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

So what? A nano second later he knew exactly what and sat bolt upright, jostling a sleeping bundle of feathers besides him. She gave a squeak as she toppled off his bed.

"I-It's not what it looks like!" he said, not really sure what it would've looked like.

Rusl just smiled and offered a hand to the crumpled pile of Luna. She blinked up at him. Then at his hand. When she made no move to accept his help, he shrugged and brought it back to his hip.

"I never knew you to be quite the rascal."

Link could feel heat creeping up his neck. "It's nothing, I swear! I didn't even know she was in my bed!"

"Sure, sure."

"No really! Besides, it's not like we're…we're…"

He glanced down at his bare chest. Curse his affections for sleeping in his underwear. Looking at Luna only made his blush worst as he noticed that the unbuttoned nightgown had slipped down her shoulders overnight. He could see where her wings met her back and white downy turned into smooth skin.

"Aw man…" he said.

At this his guardian gave a bark of a laugh with his head thrown back. Luna's eyebrows pinched together in confusion. She probably didn't understand what was so funny. Feathers rustled and she eased a wing out around her like a blanket. This caught Rusl's attention and he stared at her.

"Now, you, young lady, are quite something." he crouched down to meet her eye with a kind smile. "What be your name?"

"Last night we decided her name would be Luna." he said, glad for the diversion of topic.

Rusl gave him an odd look. "Doesn't she have a name?"

"Nope. She can't talk or remember anything either. You're wasting your breath. Why are you in my house anyways?" then, he noticed the height of the sun and nearly chocked. "Din, how late did I sleep in? Fado's got to be furious!"

As Link moved to scramble out of bed still clutching his blanket around him, Fado stood quickly to block him. "Now hold on there, buddy. I told him to leave you alone today on purpose. I have something else for you."

"Huh?"

"Did you ever get the word that there was a summons for you?"

"A…summons? No…"

"I thought I sent Ilia your way—"

"Oh! That! She told me a message came for me, not a summons for…whose summoning me?"

Rusl rolled his eyes. "The princess, who else?"

"Oh! The princess is summoning me? Good crap, why?"

The older man shook his head in dismay and looked up at the ceiling. Link frowned.

"What?" he asked.

"Just get dressed, son. You were never too bright in the mornings."

In response to this, Link blinked blearily. "But…I don't know why she's summoning me."

"Of course not." Rusl looked back down at Luna. "Did you figure out what, um, where she's come from?"

"Uh uh." though bringing his attention back to the winged girl made him blush again. "Rusl, I'm serious, nothing happened."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I was just teasing you. You're far too much of a romantic for something such as that."

"H-how do you know that? I've never even had a girlfriend before…" In his head the chant of the Sorens boys started playing in his head. The gayest of them all…_bastards_.

"I just know you."

"Sure you do. You're just mocking me again, aren't you?"

"Nope. Now get dressed. She's probably expecting you by nightfall."

"Nightfall!" his eyes flashed to the sun then back. "But that's impossible!"

"Then you better hurry up then, eh?"

At his rising stress Luna sat straighter and pressed her lips together into a thin line. She glared at the taller man as he left.

#$%^$%$# !^%$&^*&%^

Ilia waited for him like a crouching tiger at the bottom of the ladder. The moment he touched the ground she pounced.

"I want to come with!"

He wasn't in the mood for this. "No."

"How come?"

"You know why."

"Aw, come on, I need to get out of this dinky place some time!"

"Just drop it."

"How hard could it be? I could ride behind you on Epona—"

"This isn't some jolly stroll through the woods, Ilia. There might be monsters out there _and_ I have to get there by nightfall. Besides, the princess is asking for me, not you and whoever."

From above them he could hear the door snapping shut as Luna stepped out. He could see her peeking over his porch with far too hopeful eyes.

"That applies to you too, Luna!"

The pale eyebrows scrunched together and her wings rustled. Ilia only spared her a glance before returning her full, green-eyed attention on him. She turned on her best puppy eyes—which made him feel more awkward than guilty.

"Please, Link, I beg of you! On all that's holy, I'll give you anything!"

He paused in reaching for Epona's saddle, which hung in a small shack besides his house. Suspicion tickling his neck, he looked back at her.

"Why are you so into coming with me?"

Ilia gave the same exasperated eye roll that Rusl had given him that morning; as though he were stupid. It was starting to get on his nerves.

"Isn't it obvious? I tried to talk to you about it yesterday before _she_ came. Luna, right?" Pink warmed her cheeks once more and she looked off to the side. "My father pointed out that I am at the age I should…I should consider getting married." her eyes snapped back on him. "And I am _not_ marrying that Sorens ass, so don't you get started!"

Link nearly jumped a foot in the air at her venom. "I wasn't going to!"

"Good."

There fell an awkward silence between them. He tried to fill the space by coaxing Epona over to him with a handful of grains and slinging the blanket and saddle over her back. As he leaned down to buckle the straps a moist, fuzzy nose nuzzled his ear. He almost didn't hear Ilia's next words over the sound of oats being munched.

"So, you see, I don't need to go near the castle at all. You could just leave me in the town while you're doing your business."

"Okay, okay. One, I wouldn't leave you in town all by yourself. That's just stupid, something bad could happen. Second," he eased out from under his horse and gave her an incredulous look, "you're really asking me to help you manhunt?"

She winced. "Why do you have to say it like that?"

"Because that's what it is. You're manhunting."

She gave a muffled grunt of frustration. "Well, what am I suppose to do? Wait around for father to bring me home one? This is awkward enough without ending up in an arranged marriage."

"What's wrong with that?" he leaned down to tug another strap of the saddle. "It's pretty much the same thing as what you're going to do."

"But what if he's ugly? What if he has, I don't know, toenail fungus, or-or—"

"You'd think the man who raised you would be aware of things."

"Oh, I just knew it! I just knew you'd be difficult. You're so frustrating!"

That stung him. "Look, how about you give your dad a list of what to look for. Like a shopping list! Manshopping is more girly than manhunting anyways."

He didn't like how her eyes narrowed. He could practically feel the punch already.

Epona nickered nervously, probably sensing the tension in the air.

"Uh, what I meant is, well, if you go out flirting with whoever you see you might come off a…a…"

"A what, Link? A what?"

"Um, a…floozy?"

Ouch. Yeah. He deserved that one. But he was only being honest.

Suddenly his view was filled with white feathers and hair. The mare besides him gave a startled whinny and pattered back, snorting and puffing as the mass of wings hissed.

Ilia staggered back. "Wha—wha—"

"Luna!" he cried as she continued to hiss—actually _hiss_ as though blowing air between her teeth—at the girl at her feet. But she only stepped forward, wings rising. For a moment he was caught away in the magnificence of the great span of feathers.

"Luna! Stop it! What is wrong with you?"

She flinched horribly. Every feather seemed to recoil back as she slowly turned to him, face twisted with confusion and guilt. The round eyes she had put Ilia's puppy-dog eyes to shame. Even as he glared at her she continued to shrink. Her lips moved to protest, but no sound came out. His anger became oddly slippery to him. The spirit had called her innocent, good even. Why then had she nearly attacked Ilia for seemingly nothing at all? Such a strange reaction. He hardly knew the girl, though, so he couldn't know that quite yet, unless…

Ilia stared at her, slightly breathless.

"What was…what did I do?"

"I think…I think she thought you were hurting me."

"Eh? You make her sound like some guard dog or something. And why don't you let her answer?"

"She can't speak, Ilia, and I don't know, but…" he examined Luna's face, which had lost its confused quality and just looked guilty now. "I don't think she would've hurt you."

"What by Din was she doing then?"

"Scolding you?" he gave her a wry smile. "It's very unladylike to punch people who don't do what you want, you know."

Luna smiled ever so slightly.

Ilia gave an exasperated sigh. "You know what? Fine. Whatever. But you know you should be worrying about marriage too. You're not getting any younger."

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. "You make it sound like I'm forty years old."

"What about that one girl you were drawing? Why can't you just hook up with her?"

Instantly, his mood turned sour. Luna tensed as she sensed the change. Ilia, however, kept talking.

"I mean, aren't you ever lonely? You just sit up in your house or mope in the fields with the goats, don't you ever feel alone? Collin's growing up too, you know. He won't always be the little brother to keep you company. And what are you even going to do with your life? Are you just going to sit here and herd goats? Link! You've saved Hyrule! You have so much potential-"

"As what? A mercenary?"

She froze at the ice dripping his words. Her face paled. Luna watched him steadily, face twisted as though in pain.

"And a wife, yeah, what a great idea. I'll get a nice innocent family and support them by killing things, because I have so much potential there."

"Link..."

His mind caught up to his mouth, silencing him. The guilt made him angry. He felt hot with it. This wasn't like him. Tugging on the last strap with more force than needed he practically threw himself on top of his nervous horse.

"I need you to watch over Luna while I'm gone." Then, in attempts to sound casual, he added, "You could figure out some clothes for her to wear. That nightgown doesn't stay on too well."

He ignored Luna as she gave him a look as though he had kicked her.

"Yeah…sure."

With a quick check to make sure his sword, shield, bow, and other equipment were secure, he eased Epona around the two quiet figures and galloped into the forest. Once out of sight he kicked her into an all out sprint, hoping the air rushing past him would cool his burning skin. Why did Ilia bringing up marriage do this to him? No, it wasn't marriage. It was something else. Something else made him want to run as fast as he could till his legs gave way and his lungs seized up. It was the same thing that kept him up at night—the same thing that filled him with yearning to howl at the moon and yell himself hoarse on top of Death Mountain. The same thing that made him crave for the dark of twilight.

Because of this, he didn't hear Ilia's cry from behind him as Luna ran after him, stretching out her great wings.


	4. Return to Twlight

**Author's Note: Writing this story is pretty weird for me. I've imagined ones like unto it many times, but I've never attempted to actually write one. I'm kinda nervous. Is it working out all right? Anyways, as always, I update at least once a week, sometimes more, as has been the case with the past few weeks. **** Please, enjoy.**

Chapter 4: Return to Twilight

The squirrel, or more formally known as Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit, had successfully found his nut and taken care of business there. At the current moment he was traveling to his sister's hallow—for sisters, you see, are far more useful to a squirrel than brothers. Brothers are very territorial and often don't know when to keep their noses to themselves. Such gossipers! And if you ever should get a prettier mate than them or have bigger nuts—titch titch. Sisters on the other hand were generally more giving and tend to stay in one place with their children.

Therefore, Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit was replaying just how he was going to explain the crazy explosions of the day before when the branch he had just landed on gave a huge heave. Next thing he knew he was holding on for dear life as the branch shook back and forth, squealing at the top of his lungs. In that moment he saw a familiar flash of white and became so enthralled by the recognition that he stupidly let go of the branch.

And for a second, he became what his brother always wanted to be: a flying squirrel. He must never know of this, for squirrel brothers' envious natures went beyond nuts and mates. But Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit was not born a flying squirrel. So thus, he began to fall. He was so surprised to see the earth rushing up to greet him that he forgot to scream.

Pale hands appeared out of nowhere, plucking him from the air. Once more, he had become a flying squirrel. He was so shocked that he again forgot to scream when the hands lifted him up to the face of their owner: a human. A female human, to be exact. Oh nuts, he was so screwed. He'd heard horror stories of these creatures. They killed and skinned animals to cover their own ugly nakedness. His own grandmother (for squirrels got along with their grandfathers just about as well as their brothers), had called the humans 'skin thieves'. The name ran through his head even as the human's eyebrows puckered and her mouth made an 'o' of concern.

And then he was back in his tree. He had been so scared for his life he could hardly remember being set back onto the branch he just fell off of. What had just happened? And as he stood there, blinking stupidly, he watched as the white, winged human flew up and up into the sky and across the canopy.

Wait a second…humans didn't have wings.

_On my nuts_, thought the squirrel, _the humans have learned to fly. No tree is safe now_.

They were all going to die.

#%$*%(&^%$# $#^%&*^&&#$%^#$%

He arrived a few hours after sunset wondering why he had ever felt nostalgic about long horse-rides across the country. He felt permanently bow legged and the ground felt unseemingly hard underneath his feet after being apart for so long. If the guards saw any of this, they didn't show it. Stable boys took his sweaty horse away and a set of guards led him into the castle, informing him along the way to his quarters that the princess had already turned in for the night, but had ordered his needs to be seen too. They would see each other in the morning. Link had no qualms about this. His exhaustion wore on him like lead weights and it seemed a miracle that he was even able to reach his quarters without having to be carried.

Once alone in his room, he peeled off his equipment and flung himself onto the four poster bed. It felt softer than clouds. Though, from his experience, clouds weren't soft at all. They were very wet. But he meant it as an analogy anyways.

"Would you like a bath to be drawn for you, Sir Link?"

Sir Link. Huh. He could get use to that.

"No thank you. I'll take some food though—that is, if that's okay?"

The guard bowed low. "Of course. Is there anything in particular you would like, Sir Link?"

Oh yeah. Mr. Sir Link to you, good sir.

"Nah. Whatever is there, I'm good with."

"Very well. A tray will be sent to your room shortly. If there is anything you need, Sir, please, feel free to ask."

The door shut. Grinning to himself, he grabbed a pillow and mashed it to his face out of ecstasy. It was so freaking squishy! Did they have real feather pillows? They had to be. Even as he happily rolled about the heavenly bed he could feel his fatigue getting the better of him. He could definitely get use to this.

Forcing himself to stand, he peeled off the green tunic he had chosen to travel in. The mail was light and nearly cloth like, but he still groaned as the weight came off his shoulders. Once he stood bare chest and only wearing leggings, he sought out the pitcher of water in front of one of his room's wide windows and went to it. He had just poured some water and slapped a wet rag to his shoulders when a flash of white caught his eye. Tensing, he peered out the window into the moonless night. Had that been what he thought it was? Jaw clenched in anger, he unlatched the windows and flung them open. A wave of cool air rushed in, prickling his skin with goose bumps.

"Luna!" he called out. "I thought I told you not to come!"

A moment passed only filled by crickets and the occasional whisper of wind. Just as he was preparing himself for another shout there was a great 'thwomp' of air and the white form of Luna landed precariously on the battlements just outside his windows, great wings stretched high. He felt the air he had just breathed in blow out in a great rush at the sight of her. Even without moonlight, her whiteness made her glow against the dark night. She balanced unsteadily on all fours, looking up at him guiltily through a curtain of windswept white hair. Carefully, she tucked in her wings behind her.

He could plainly read the words written on her face.

_I'm sorry._

But instead of scolding her like he felt like doing, he could only stare. Though it had occurred to him that she could probably fly with those wings, the reality of it had never truly sunk in. Even as he stared at her, awestruck, a breeze blew past them and he saw her shiver. Shaking himself out of it, he sighed.

"Come on," he said, "get in here. Can't have you catching a cold."

She beamed—but then must have remembered she was in trouble and quickly forced the smile from her face. He backed up and watched eagerly as Luna spread those huge wings once more and, in only two or three flaps, fluttered onto the windowsill to climb in. One of her wings nearly knocked over the pitcher and basin, but he managed to dash forward in time to catch it. Soft feathers brushed past him as she walked deeper into the room.

After closing and latching the window once more, he turned on her, urging himself to feel properly angry. All he got, however, was fatigue. He pulled the rag off his shoulder and continued to wash down his arm with more sighs, debating what to say as Luna watched him.

"Can I ask why you felt the need to follow me here?" he asked.

She opened her mouth but, of course, nothing came out. For the first time her face scrunched up in frustration and she looked around for some parchment, the tiny stone between her bangs a confusing swirl of blues. She found some with a quill and inkwell in the corner and trotted over, feathers bouncing.

Her handwriting seemed to have gotten worse.

'_I wanted to be with you.'_

He raised an eyebrow at the short sentence and thought he could make out a faint blush in the candlelight. It was then he noticed that she still wore Ilia's nightgown, now turned particularly ragged and dirty. It sagged off her frame, revealing her pale, willowy shoulders once more. One catching a view of her nearly black bare feet, he handed the wet rag to her. She took it shyly and begun wiping down her feet.

"Why didn't you at least stay long enough to let Ilia find you some new clothes? Or at least some shoes…"

Her eyes flickered nervously to the paper he held out to her and to different parts of the room. Uncertainly, she dropped the rag and took the paper from him, using one of the bedposts to scratch out her answer.

_'I guess I panicked. You seemed so upset.'_

"Panicked? Goddesses, I was going to come back, and I'm fine. You weren't going to be alone, Luna. And I took care of the Twili so you have nothing to be afraid of."

She shook her head frantically and he handed back the paper.

'_I wasn't afraid of shadow beasts. I can take care of myself.'_

"Sure you can."

She scowled and ripped the paper from out of his hands.

_'I wasn't ready for them that time, okay? How about I knock all your memories from your head and drop you in the middle of a crowd of monsters and we can see how well you deal with them.'_

"All right, calm your horses. If you're so self-sufficient, why did you follow me?"

_'I just wanted to be with you. You…you're the only person I know and, well, you did give me my name, and I' _she quickly scratched that out, flushing. _'Do I,'_ she hesitated under his gaze. He had taken to reading over her shoulder this time rather than wait till she handed the paper to him. The quill tip quivered. She seemed distracted with his proximity. It was then he remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt and blushed, taking a step back. As he did so she finished and handed the paper to him, averting her eyes. _'Do I annoy you? I wouldn't want to cause you any discomfort.'_

"Well, I'm a bit annoyed, I guess, but that's only because now I don't know what to do with you when I have to meet with Zelda. But, no, you don't annoy me." At her nervous expression he tried to give her a reassuring smile. "I like you, Luna. Don't worry. I said I would help you, didn't I? If you annoy me I'll let you know."

Her face shone with happiness. Without any warning she launched herself at him in a tight hug, kissing him on the cheek before falling with him as he fell flat on his butt. With a grunt of pain he glared at her and she recoiled away with the big eyed _I'm sorry_ face. He found his disgruntlement melting underneath her gaze, which trailed down until her blush grew to a deep red. He could feel his own blush rising to his face and looked around for his undershirt, which was fortunately nearby, and pulled it on over his head. She had her hands over her eyes by the time he peeked out over the collar.

"Warn me before you do that, will you?"

She raised a single, smooth eyebrow over her fingertips and pursed her lips. _How?_

"I don't know, throw a paper at me or something."

To this she dropped her hands and rolled her eyes, but smiled with a rustle of her wings. The movement could've been an expression of contentment or happiness. Cheeks still aglow with her fading blush, Luna reached for the paper and quill again and scribbled something quickly.

_'Why were you so bitter against Ilia earlier? Do you not want to get married?'_

He stared at the paper. As he continued to sit there, not knowing how to respond, she swiped the paper back and scrawled down some more.

_'I know you are lonely. I know you long for something. You are unsettled and cannot rest easy—cannot sleep. What's wrong?'_

In his exhaustion his old resentment returned and he shot her with a harsh look. She shied back, but otherwise kept her ground on the floor next to him. Instantly he felt guilty and shook his head. What was wrong with him?

"It's not your business, Luna. You don't even know who I am." Then, hoping to fix a bit of what he had done, he asked, "Now, where would you like to sleep? Since you're the lady you can take your pick. I don't think we should bother the guards with finding you your own room. They might panic at the sight of your…yeah."

She cocked her head to the side questioningly. Right then, a knock came to the door. The sound reminded him of his waiting meal and his stomach grumbled. A scrawny maid waited on the other side of the door, holding a large tray laden with bread, fruits, a few hunks of various meats, and cheeses.

"Here you are, dear sir." she moved to give him the tray when her eyes froze over his shoulder and her mouth dropped. Already guessing what she saw he glanced over to see Luna peering over his shoulder, folded wings perked slightly over her head in curiosity. His mouth grew dry. He tugged the tray from the woman's grip.

"Thank you, milady." he said. Then, he closed the door sharply in her face. He turned on Luna.

"You can't just hover over my shoulder like that! Not everyone is going to react as coolly to you as Ilia and I did, okay?" he paused, realizing her attention wasn't on him, but the tray. He looked down at the food, then to her. "Did you…wait, you flew all the way here without eating, didn't you?"

Again, she tucked her chin down in shame. He heard her stomach give an audible grumble and her cheeks pinkened. Then, before he could question her further, she lifted the piece of paper to him. Dropping the tray onto a nearby chair, he took the paper.

_'I know you, Link. You are why I am here.'_

"How? And what did I do?"

She hid her face further into her hair and shrugged. It was a noncommittal sort of gesture, and it unnerved him. The suspicion nagged at him. There was something she wasn't telling. He found himself frowning, but he was too tired to interrogate her. His legs and back ached, his eyes itched worse than ever, and tomorrow he'd have to face whatever Zelda had in store for him. Taking a loaf of bread off the tray, he plopped back to the floor and gestured to the food.

"Eat. I can't believe you made it here without fainting."

She did so with much gusto, as though she hadn't eaten for three days rather than one. When he turned back to grab another slice of meat he found himself reaching for an empty plate. All that was left was the bowl of soup, an apple, and a chicken thigh. He glanced up at her just in time to see the paper shoved his way once more. He opened it up with half an eye on the food in case he needed to defend it from her.

_'I'm sorry. Flying really takes it out of me. I left the chicken for you…though I also don't care for it much. Forgive me?'_

"Of course. Flying does it to the best of us."

She gave him a confused look at his almost hidden sarcasm. He waved it away.

"Don't worry about it."

Soon after he found himself falling asleep on the bed with Luna curled up at his feet. He had tried to explain to her that she could have the bed and he could sleep on the couch, but she had insisted. No sooner had he laid himself down and curled up in the blankets when she situated as she was now, wings hugged about her like swaddling clothes. Though he loathed the idea of anyone finding them like this, he found her weight far from uncomfortable. In fact, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, it eased the dark thoughts that wished to keep him up.

On the edge of sleep he heard the beautiful, musical voice once more whispering to him on the edge of his dreams, comforting him, though he couldn't make out the words it spoke.

But when had he started to be in need of comfort?

#$%$%^&*(&^%$# %^&*^%$# %^&*

He awoke the next morning to the sense of being watched. Over his journeys he had acquired this sense on the multiple occasions he had been jumped in his sleep by monsters. Midna had called him paranoid, but she wasn't the one who had to worry about mortal danger, being able to dissolve herself into shadows at a whim. That had always annoyed him: her inability to put herself in another person's shoes. Sure she could be magnanimous and compassionate on occasion—even regal—but everyday empathy was beyond her. And being a man of simple tastes and simple lifestyle, understanding him had always been something she couldn't do. Not that he had an easy time understanding her, Twili, princess, and all.

Despite the urge to jump for his sword, he roused himself slowly. He was in the castle. Him acting that way would only prove Midna right about his paranoia. It was probably just Luna. On opening his eyes, however, he found her still curled into her feathery bundle, fast asleep. Blinking in the bright sunlight pouring from his window, he looked around, confused. He had been certain something had been watching him. The sun outside his window glared straight in, signifying mid-morning.

He leaned down to his feet to nudge Luna awake. Unable to find a shoulder, he had to press his hand into the feathers of her wings. The softness gave him pause. Without thinking he stroked the wing, awestruck once more. What was this creature?

She shifted a bit than began to give off soft, content purring. This startled him enough to shake her awake.

"Luna. Luna, I need to ask you something."

Ruffling her feathers ever so slightly, she pushed herself onto her knees, rubbing her eyes. She yawned widely, then blinked sleepily at him.

"Did anyone come in?"

She shrugged, then cocked her head to the side questioningly. He hesitated. The bright morning sun danced on the gloss of her white feathers. Her mane of hair, after a day of flying and a night of sleep, was a ratted mess. Within it all he was able to make out the small stone on her forehead, which at the moment looked like a pink sort of opal. The nightgown had drooped, if possible, even more and he blushed as he realized it now hung just enough to cover her breasts. A tiny shiver of heat ran up his spine.

"It's nothing. Can you pull up your sleeves?"

Again, she seemed befuddled by his questions, but she pulled the ratty gown over her shoulders nonetheless, unaware of her immodesty. The voice of the spirit echoed in his mind, reminding him of the girl's innocence. Why was she the way she was? Who was she?

"Luna…" then, changing his mind, he asked instead, "How did you sleep?"

She teetered her hand in front of her. _So-so. _The action made the nightgown slip back down her ivory shoulder. Wait, ivory? Had he really just thought that?

A knock came at the door.

"Uh—hold on!" he looked down at himself. For once he had slept nearly fully dressed. Grabbing his tunic, he slipped it over his head and opened the door partially. Outside, two guards waited for him.

"Sir Link."

"Yeah?"

"The Princess will see you now. She waits for you in the conference hall. When you are ready we are ordered to escort you there."

"Oh, uh, all right then. Let me just finished getting dressed and I'll be right there."

He quickly closed the door, hoping the guards hadn't gotten any view of what was inside and turned to Luna. Fluffy and white, she sat with her hands folded between her crossed legs and watched him with a smile. Something sparkled in her eyes. The other sleeve had already begun its trip down her shoulder. He tried not to focus too much on the curve of her collarbone or notice how slender and long her neck was. This was getting awkward.

"I'm going to go meet with the Princess. You mustn't open the door for anything, am I understood? Keep it locked at all times."

Her blue eyes rounded and she cocked her head. He was beginning to notice consistencies in her silent language. Slipping off his tunic so he could slip on his light mail (you could never be too careful), he elaborated for her.

"I know you look human, but no one here has wings. I don't know how they'll react to you quite yet and, frankly, I don't want you to get lost, especially since you're mute." He tightened the belt about his tunic and, just for good measure, snapped on one of his packs. Fingering his bed hair, he looked around for a comb. Best not to look like a complete slob before royalty. "Does my hair look all right?"

She eyed him, then snorted. His efforts to find a comb increased.

"Do you think I could just stuff it underneath my hat?"

She rolled her eyes and gestured him towards her. He hesitated. The girl obviously had a lack of knowledge in the personal space department, he had a right to be worried. How many times had she kissed him now? Though he knew by the words of the light spirit that she most likely meant nothing by it. She gestured more insistently and he gave in, approaching her cautiously.

"What are you—"

Her hands reached out and turned him sharply. He felt her fingers in his hair, combing them. It was surprisingly pleasant. When he turn she combed back his bangs, grabbed his hat from his hand, and placed it just right. Her smile had grown soft and content. Her fingers lingered just a second longer, but she soon pulled them back. He glanced around for his sword and wondered if he should take that too, then decided to leave it.

"Thanks a lot, Luna. Now stay. I'll be right back."

She nodded, still smiling and sleeves still slipping farther down her shoulders.

The men led him to a small study a few levels up. Despite having ran through the castle a year previously, the immensity of the place still blew him away. Who built this place anyways? Inside the walls were lined with a few bookcases and speckled with regal looking paintings of royals. An empty marble fireplace stood in one corner.

And waiting with her back to him, looking out a window, was Princess Zelda, now monarch of Hyrule. He had forgotten just how straight and proud the woman could stand.

"Milady, Sir Link."

The guards closed the doors as soon as he entered. He got the sudden impression of being locked into a room as he had on occasion to be pounced on by some awful creature.

Not entirely sure what to do, he knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. You couldn't go wrong bowing, right? His nervousness increased when Zelda didn't say anything. His mind wandered to Luna somewhere beneath him in the castle. He prayed she wouldn't grow curious and leave. Dressed as she was, he didn't want to know what kind of stares she get for that, let alone for her wings.

"Is it true you have a lady-friend in your quarters?"

He flinched. He had not been expecting that to be her first words. Did she read his mind? He wouldn't be surprised if she had.

"Yes, princess, but it isn't what you think."

"And what is it that I think, Sir Link?"

Why did they keep calling him 'Sir' anyways? He had never been knighted. Once Ganon was out of the picture he had ran home as soon as he could, thoroughly adventured out for the time being.

He decided to go with blunt and felt heat crawling up his neck. "She is not my lover or amusement, if that is what you are thinking. A friend and I found her two days ago in the forest, nearly dead. I told her not to follow me here, but, you see Princess—"

"Stand up. I want to see your face."

He stood, wondering why his knees felt so flimsy. It was just a girl. He had walked over chasms and faced down dragons millions of feet into the sky. Why was he so afraid now?

Zelda was facing him. Her dark blue-green eyes were sharp on him and her face unreadable. It made him instantly miss the expressiveness of the mute winged girl. She had her gloved hands folded against her dress.

"You may continue explaining yourself."

He cleared his throat, which had gone dry. "Well, uh, as I was saying, I told her to stay in Ordon—but she followed after me without me noticing—she's sort of attached herself to me, I guess."

"My guards received no other visitor after yourself, nor any horses." She narrowed her eyes skeptically. "Are you telling me she ran all the way here? Enough to keep up with your horse?"

"Well, Princess, you'd have to see her to understand. She, uh…" oh goddesses this was going to make him sound so stupid. "She has wings…milady."

"Wings?" For a moment she was thrown off guard and her serious composure faltered ever so slightly. She gathered herself back up quickly, however. "What do you mean? What kind of creature is this?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. She doesn't know either—I think she has a sort of amnesia. Its part of the reason she followed me. I'm the only thing she knows…if you want to, milady, you may meet her. But I can swear to you that I did not bring her to wear on your kindness."

"How is it she was able to get here at all—wings or not—if two days ago she was near death?"

"Ordona, the light spirit, your grace. He—or she—gosh, I never bothered asking about their gender. I mean, how do you go about—"

"I get the idea."

"Oh, yeah, um...excuse me."

"I will see this girl you speak of once we are done here. Now that is out of the way, I wish to touch upon my reasoning for summoning you here." The princess hesitated. He kept wondering where he should place his eyes. It seemed a bit forward of him to look at her face directly. Sure they had fought side by side against Ganon—she had even ridden behind him on Epona—but she felt different now. Back then with the stress of losing her kingdom and possibly the world to twilight and death, she had been almost real in her earnestness. The person who spoke to him now he didn't recognize. She had stiffened with regality and severe decorum. Was this the real princess? In her hesitation, however, a reminder of the princess he knew, no matter how little, seemed to poke through. He waited patiently. In the back of his mind, he wondered if any other Twili had found their way to this part of the land. The ominous warning of the spirit echoed in his thoughts. How long would it take for the absence of the moon spirit to wane the boundary completely?

"I summoned you here," more hesitation, but she pushed through, "to get to know you better. I realized soon after you left that I hadn't given any thought to rewarding you for your sacrifice and…I was, to put it bluntly, curious. I was hoping we could become…friends, maybe even…" she didn't finish that sentence.

She didn't have to. All sorts of weird things had begun to squirm inside him. Had all the women in his life gone crazy? Man-crazy? He could feel his hands beginning to sweat beneath his gauntlets. Incredulous indignation trickled into his chest, along with bewilderment. He had been expecting something truly important, especially with the missing moon and all. Had she not noticed anything?

"You're saying you summoned me here all the way from Ordon…to get to know me better?"

She did not recoil at his words, but if anything stood taller, staring him down bravely.

"Yes." she said. "I know it's hard to believe—"

Throwing aside propriety, he burst out, "Hard to believe? Zelda, there's Twili on the loose , the moon has vanished, I have a winged person in my room with no clue who or where she is, and you summoned me here for a _date?_"

His bluntness, as it always had to Ilia, made even the Princess flinch.

"I would not call it—wait, Twili—the moon has what? What do you mean? Why am I not aware of these things?"

"I'm wondering the same thing, your grace."

"Explain."

And he did so, starting from when he had found Luna. He left out his dream on purpose, for it didn't seem very necessary. It didn't take him very long, and when he finished her demeanor had gone from nervous to downright fearful. Her face had paled.

"Where is this moon spirit?" she asked earnestly.

"I don't know! The spirit left me hanging, princess."

Her mouth thinned. "I must see this girl of yours. All of this appears to have started with her." she paused, a bit of embarrassment flashing through her uneasiness. "I am…sorry for…"

"No need to apologize. It's one of those weeks for me anyways."

Her eyebrows rose. "What do you mean? Oh, never mind, let's go."

The guards followed them leisurely back to Link's room. He knocked on the door and called for her, but when no one answered he wiggled the doorknob and found it to be unlocked. This made him apprehensive. Hadn't he told her to lock the door?

"Luna?"

Inside, the room was deserted. He looked about frantically for a sign of white. On noticing the open window he strode over, heart hammering.

"Luna? Luna, where are you?"

Behind him, the princess with her guards looked about as well. He then saw what else was missing, and it made him feel even worse: his sword.

Zelda watched him carefully.

"Why are you so pale?"

"She took my sword. Din damn, why did she take my sword?"

Zelda gasped. "Link?"

"What?"

A strong wind suddenly blew through the room and Zelda's guards leapt into defensive positions. Swiveling about, a hand on his cap, he found Luna clinging onto the windowsill on all fours, her great wings outstretched and his sword dangling at her side. The small gem on her forehead had turned to topaz. Ignoring the harried expression on her face, he stomped over.

"Luna! Why don't you ever listen to me! Where have you—"

But she leapt down, flipping her hands frantically in the air, lips forming and reforming words. She pointed behind her. He paused, unnerved. Her feet had turned black with dirt again.

"What is it?"

She kept pointing out the window. Her breath wheezed past her useless vocal chords, but no sound came. Face scrunching in frustration, she ran about the room searching for parchment, thwacking her large wings against various things as she went. When a stand of pokers by the fire crashed to the ground Zelda gasped out, "Goodness, what has gotten into her? Why doesn't she answer you? Is she ill in the head? That would explain why she is dressed like that."

"She's mute, princess, not crazy—do you have any paper?"

"I'm afraid not."

Luna quickly gave up and settled with grabbing Link's arm and dragging him to the window, where she pointed into the sky insistently. For a moment, he saw nothing. Then, before his eyes, black shapes began to materialize. Great flapping wings paddled the air with flickering, flame-like skin. His jaw dropped. Shadow creatures? In mid-day? But no, even as he watched the sky began to throb a dull amber and the flying beast became more visible. Further out to the horizon he could still see the pale blue outline of the sky, untouched by ocher.

"Princess, I think you need to see this."

In the short time it took her to walk from the doorway to the window more shadowy bird-like monsters had appeared in the sky, growing more solid by the second. Their trumpet-like heads began swiveling down in their direction and Link could feel a familiar, throbbing ache in his veins. The back of his right hand tingled. Besides him, Luna went frantic, flapping the edge of her wings despite the lack of space for it. A chair toppled over.

His heart still pounded loudly in his ears, but for a whole other reason than fear. He could already feel the inner beast within him itching to stretch its legs and pound across the land.

"Princess! What do we do?!"

Link turned around. He had almost forgotten about the two guards behind them. Even as he looked to them he saw their bodies begin to fade and a bright orb of light growing brighter within them: their spirits.

A strange screech like a wailing horn rent the air. Link hurriedly slammed the windows shut. As he did so an agonizing pain bent him over and onto his knees. He heard Zelda call his name just to be answered with a protective hiss from Luna as her wings encompassed him.

"It's all right," he tried to tell her, but all that came out was a moan. He had forgotten how much this hurt. For the first time he felt bitter at the goddesses for making him turn into a wolf, but allowing Zelda to keep her natural form. All thought was torn from him, however, by a heaving pain that rent his skin down to his very bones as they shifted.

The next thing he knew he was listening to canine pants—his own pants—and feeling his paws out through his dizziness. White feathers met his opening his eyes.

_Oh Din,_ he thought, excitement making his fur stand on end. _I've changed. I've actually changed. I'm a wolf again._


	5. Moonfall

**Author's note: Stories have always held a special place in my life and way of thinking. Nothing distracts me more than a story that can wrap it's tendrils about me and drug me into its world. I hope my stories can achieve that attribute.**

Chapter 5: Moonfall

Zelda's figure looked surreal in the glow of twilight. Her skin had turned all the more pale, her hair an even darker gold, and her dress's colors mellow. But nothing looked as striking nor as alarming as Luna. She shone out like the Sols, suns of the twilight realm, white and glorious. What struck him most, however, was the fact she had not turned into a spirit. Only those blessed by the gods with specific power could escape this fate. What could it possibly mean?

Her wings retracted from him slowly, her face almost heavenly in its own inner light.

_Luna?_ All that came out, however, was a dog's whimper. He inwardly cursed. Now he was as mute as she was. Both women had their eyes on him. Unnerved by the attention, he got to his feet and padded about the room before sitting down on his haunches. Standing next to Zelda and the slender form of Luna, he was reminded of just how large of a creature he transformed into. He always appreciated that at least, for what if the goddesses had changed him into something less impressive, say, like a squirrel? That would've really sucked.

Honking came from outside. Black shadows passed the shaded window. For a good minute or so there was an awkward silence, for two of their number were mute and two more were simply spirits, leaving only the Princess the ability to speak. At some point she cleared her throat.

"I suppose we won't get anything done hanging around here. We should probably see the extent of the…damage."

Luna's wings rustled as she tucked them tightly behind her. She wouldn't meet the princess's eyes. Link smelt a mixture of fear and guilt in the air and his ears perked up. He examined the winged girl besides him curiously. It was difficult to make out her expression amongst all the white shine. He could barely make out her stone anymore, now a strange shade of lavender.

"Am I…well, understood? This is so odd. I feel like I'm talking to myself."

His ears flattened at this. Hey, he may have turned into a wolf, but he was still Link—which was a human certainly.

Luna nodded for him, then pointed at the spirits with a frown. Zelda looked confused.

"What?"

Luna opened her mouth, hesitated, then gave up. Link's heightened instincts somehow picked up on what she meant, however, and he nuzzled her hand reassuringly. The guards would be all right for now. Scared as hell, but all right. It was difficult to harm a spirit as it was.

The winged girl and the wolf followed the princess out the door and down the darkened halls. Flecks of blackness rained up from the floor, as though the world were shedding fleck by fleck. Along the way they came upon more glowing orbs, which Luna eyed uncertainly. Once she fell behind and he had to nudge her forward with his muzzle for her to catch up. As she looked down at Link, expression uneasy, it occurred to him that the girl was taking his transformation into a beast rather well for having only known him for two days.

_ I know you, Link. You are why I am here._

He mentally shook himself. That was crazy. He was sure he would've remembered meeting a pale beautiful girl with huge white wings. Besides, as far as he knew the girl had amnesia…

A shiver prickled his fur along his back. His senses tingled. Up ahead he thought he could hear the tall-tale rattles of Twili. Leaping in front of Zelda he glared forward, lowering his jaws to the ground, and growled. As Zelda just stood there, looking surprise, Luna stepped up besides her, jaw set.

Orbs of various shades of green and yellow came flying up from below. He caught brief images of people running for their lives. And behind them, sure enough, were several flat faces framed by masses of black, tentacle-like hair: corrupted Twili.

The lead monster stopped at the sight of the wolf crouched before them. Its skin shifted and fluttered ever so slightly. The others rattled to a stop behind it, long arms tickling the stone steps.

"Wha—what happened to them?" gasped Zelda.

_How should I know?_ Link tried to say. Of course, _hello_, wolf speech.

A flash of black—he attacked, teeth bared. His jaws sunk into the sickly flesh of the Twili. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a stream of white rush past him, wings outstretched.

"No! Luna!" cried Zelda.

He couldn't see what exactly the girl was doing to defend herself. For a brief, panicked second he could only remember the mangled, bleeding state he had found her in. He let go of his prey as soon as he felt their muscles spasm.

_Luna, you idiot!_

Then, shocked, he froze in place.

Standing amidst the shadows like a beacon, she lashed out at them with his goat-horn sword. A thin skin of light had covered the blade. Though she handled the blade with both hands and rather clumsily, she sliced shadow after shadow like an avenging angel, gem glowing a colorless, iridescent light. They fell at her feet by pairs. Even as she fought more demonic Twili rushed up from the depths. He mentally smacked himself into action just in time to stop a black claw from slicing into the frightened princess.

One would think he'd be use to Luna's strangeness by now. Besides, she did say she knew how to deal with shadow creatures. Though why? For the up tenth time he wondered what kind of creature he had found. Who was Luna really? And as he watched her slash through another Twili, expression cold yet somehow regretful, he thought of Midna.

Zelda's voice broke over the battle. "There's too many! We have to get out of here!"

_Easier said than done, _he thought blithely as he dodged a slash to the side-just to be met with a swipe to the face. He thwacked against the wall. His vision filled with stars.

A strange, melodic cry like a flute—then feathers filled his speckled view. His silver sword slashed furiously before him.

'_Link! Get up!'_

That voice. When had he heard such a beautiful voice?

Shaking the darkness from his vision, he quickly leapt forward once more, teeth gnashing at a creature aiming once more for the prone figure of Zelda.

"_STOP!" _she cried.

He skidded to a halt just to be met with another smack to the face. His mind still whirled at the musical voice he had just heard. He knew that voice. Din damn it, he knew that one for sure. Getting the wind knocked out of him by the stairs couldn't take that away.

Shadow creatures parted like waves, pressed to the walls by some unseen power. They squirmed and screeched underneath its force. Luna froze as well, the light on the weapon in her hand flickering. For the first time he noticed her knees quivering, but he didn't give any thought to it. He looked down the hall to see nothing. Confused and sore, he looked back behind him to find Zelda with her palms pressed forward, a glow issuing from the back of her right hand. Her face was scrunched with concentration.

"Now! Go back up where we came! If we find the old tower, we can leave through the sewers."

She did know there were monsters down there too, right? Just smaller ones. Nonetheless, he and Luna swiveled about and raced past her, bare feet slapping against the stone. With a crack like a snapping branch she too turned and ran after them, her magic holding up just for a moment before shattering and allowing the beasts free. He could hear them chattering after them.

_This is hopeless!_ He tried to cry. Only a bark came from his throat. Yet they ran up the stairs, adrenaline pumping and muscles aching. At some point they swiveled about the core of the broken down tower Zelda spoke of.

"There!" Above their heads, just out of a normal man's reach, was the hole in the wall. Link automatically crouched down, expecting Zelda to use him to hoist herself up. To his surprise Luna grabbed the princess under the arms and gave an all mighty pump of her wings. Downy flew, wind billowed about the small space, but there was just barely enough room for that one single flap and Zelda was lifted high enough to land half way through the hole. She scrambled in, followed by the feathery form of Luna. Link leapt up after them just to slip on the edge. He fell into a heap atop the two women.

"Gak!" Zelda squirmed and panted heavily beneath his weight. All of them could hear the clatter of Twili behind them. "Why are they after us anyways?"

_I don't know!?_ he barked furiously. _I'm usually the one who knows the least about a situation! Damn it if I know why!_

But of course, Zelda didn't get what he was saying. Luna, however, gave him a curious look on moving out from underneath him. She pressed her lips tight together, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. She looked worried as she sheathed his sword at her side.

"Now," Zelda said, fighting for breath with her hands on her hips. "I've never been in this before, but Link, you came—"

A black claw appeared at the rim of the hole. His fur stood on end and he missed whatever else she said.

_No time for talking!_ he barked, not sure why he kept bothering to speak out loud. Luna responded instantly, sprinting to the edge of the broken floor to leap down, wings outspread. He rushed after her, Zelda calling after them with a hand at her side. He didn't think of the princess following him as he dropped off the ledge to the water below. He also didn't think of what would happen if there was by chance no water at the bottom at all. It had been a year, after all. It didn't help that this thought came to him amidst the rush of the fall as all his organs were pressed up and Zelda's scream echoed about the tower.

Harsh, icy cold engulfed him. Water poured into his mouth and ears. Scrambling to the surface he hacked and coughed, choking on his own tongue once or twice. Dog tongues were a lot longer than human tongues, you see. Zelda surfaced up beside him, gasping for air. To the side with her wings still half open hunched Luna, filling the bottom of the tower with her strange, luminescent light. Black flakes of the world fell up before her, casting shadows against the walls.

Luna jerked her chin up once she met his eyes. His sharp hearing picked up the sounds of the Twili hitting the metal grating of the top and only floor.

Zelda wheezed. "I can't…run…another step…I swear."

He paddled to the shore towards Luna. Soaked, he climbed out next to her and shook energetically, earning a reproving glare from the silent girl. She had been the only one of the three who had been dry, though not anymore thanks to him. He tried to give her an apologetic smile, but how does a wolf do that anyways?

The moment the Princess had made it to them they started off down the tunnel. The tower now echoed with the rattles of Twili. Link led the way through the semi-darkness lit up by Luna's light, dispensing of any small rat-turned-shadow creature along the way. The further they went around twists and turns, the more the scent of water, mold, and earth grew stronger and soon he thought he would choke on the humidity. The rattling steadily grew quieter and Luna finally tucked her wings back in, expression grim.

"I sometimes wonder if the goddesses gave us the means to hold our form in twilight just to leave us responsible." said Zelda after some time. "If we had not this gift, we wouldn't have to worry about harm from the monsters. Spirits can't really be harmed by shadows."

Luna turned her face to the princess and shook her head, frowning. Zelda looked startled.

"Are you saying they can?"

She nodded, then turned back to the tunnel. Link eyed her. Her legs were shaking. Was it just him, or did the stone on her forehead seem dimmer?

What felt like an eternity later they came up to a small grate underneath a street. Zelda, as the tallest, pushed it up for them and slipped through. They came out to an apparently empty street. The rattling's of the Twili had fallen silent.

"I think we're in the north district." said Zelda, twisting water out from her skirt. Her long, gold-brown hair stuck to her neck and face. She picked at it in annoyance. Luna teetered, but straightened quickly. He sniffed her in concern, but couldn't pick up any wounds.

"Where…where to now?" she looked about her. "If I recall we can't get out of twilight completely on our own, but then again that's supposing this twilight hasn't consumed our land completely."

Luna stumbled towards a building and leaned against it, hand to her face. Link brushed up against her in concern and Zelda finally noticed her weakening.

"Luna? What's wrong?" her hands fluttered over her uncertainly. "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head. Her knees knocked together and she clenched her scalp in effort, hissing through her teeth. He started to become more than concerned. What if Luna was some type of creature that was poisoned by twilight? What if they had hurt her in only a way her kind could? Dang it, if only he knew what Luna was, where she came from, or at least her connection with all this. What if she died before he could figure all this out?

It was then he noticed the return of the rattling beneath them…and behind them…and to the side of them from the alleyways…

Zelda had clutched her face in fear. "Oh Farore help us,"

With a raspy spit of a growl Luna pushed off the wall and grabbed the princess's hand. The sheathed sword tinkled at her side. Without warning she ran forward, dragging the princess along with her towards the open gateway down the road. Even as he ran after them, he caught a glimpse of the hoards of black appearing from around the allies.

This was a nightmare. Where had they all come from? And Din, what the heck was going on?

Despite her determination, Luna stumbled. Zelda nearly tripped over her. She tried to help her up and continue on with her, but the white girl shook her head and yanked Zelda ahead of her. The princess stood their uncertainly. All the while the hoards of Twili were gaining on them.

"I can't…"

Link took a jawfull of her dress with a growl and tugged her forward. With one last look at the winged girl, Zelda turn and ran after the wolf. Of course, it hadn't occurred to Link what exactly Luna was doing like it had to Zelda. All he was aware of was the burn of his lungs and legs as he pounded across the cobblestones, wrapped in amber light. He didn't know how long they ran, girl and wolf, before he noticed the lack of white. By the time he did notice they had ran all the way to the overview of lake Hylia and he had turned around sharply, alarmed. Zelda collapsed onto the ground, gagging for breath and spent.

_Where is she?_ he asked desperately, spluttering on his hanging tongue and panting. _For the love of Nayru, where is she?_

But of course, Zelda didn't answer. She probably didn't even hear his unintelligible canine whimpers and grunts.

Despite the urge to collapse as she had, he began to panic, which made him paw at the ground restlessly.

_Where is she? Goddesses, where is she? She didn't…she wouldn't…_

The memory of her bloody body flashed through his mind and he flinched. His heart, already pounding away in his chest, grew hot and icy at once. But even above his ragged pants and drumming heart he could hear the quiet tinkle of twilight, devoid of the sounds of pursuit.

Whatever Luna had done, it probably saved their lives.

But how dare he think that!? She probably just fell behind, or perhaps now flew too high for them to see—he would've known if she had meant to do anything that stupid. Why would she had done something like that, whatever it was she could have done? But now he remembered—he remembered how Luna had shoved Zelda forward and fallen behind on her quivering limbs. Maybe he could even remember the sound of a sword being drawn beneath the noise of Twili. She wouldn't have been able to run with them. And if she had been too weak or exhausted to run, how would she have had the ability to fly when flying took more energy? Why hadn't he thought that? For the love of Nayru, why hadn't he thought that!?

Zelda fought for her voice through her starving gasps for air.

"She…she's back there…she's…I saw."

His first instinct was to run back, but what would be left of her anyways? What would the shadow creatures have done to her this time if last time they had shredded her within an inch of her life? And why hadn't they followed after them? Surly there would have been enough of them to deal with Luna in her weakened state as well as chase after them.

Unless…it had been her they had been after all along.


	6. Brother Sun

**Author's note: Thank you for the bodacious reviews. **** I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Please let me know how I'm doing so I know if I'm doing it right or not. And if I type 'surly' again instead of 'surely', please know I meant 'surely'. Surly hasn't been used in this stories vocabulary yet. XD ahhh, rough draft, also known as sloppy copy.**

Chapter 6: Brother Sun

Link felt his blood run cold. Something very, very bad had just happened. He could feel it in his gut, and his gut had not been wrong yet.

Zelda looked to him, the red of her flushed face showing through the amber cast of twilight. Her eyes were tense with apprehension.

"What do we do now?"

He snapped his jaws at the question. How was he suppose to know? How was he even suppose to answer? He was a wolf, for crying out loud! And until true, complete light returned to the land, he would remain so. His excitement of returning to this old form had long melted away. Now he just sat frustrated. If only Midna were here. She always had some random suggestion to give to him. The thought gave him a stomach ache.

"Link, I think they might have been after that poor Luna girl, not us. Though why the shadow creatures still attacked us in the hall I cannot begin to guess why. Could they have just been on an assassin mission and we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Why did she keep asking him that? Of course he had already figured something along the lines of that, but even if he had an answer he couldn't give it. She didn't seriously expect him to respond, did she? Unaware of his thoughts, she kept talking.

"For if they had really wanted us, they could have followed us. I was sure there were at least a hundred of them coming after us, though one is never accurate in the rush of the moment. Unless she had somehow figured out a way to stop all of them from following…I really can't say. From what I gather, no one is really sure of what she is capable of."

But at this thought he couldn't help remembering how hurt she had been after just an encounter with three Twili and how clumsily she had handled his sword. Even then she had been exhausted afterwards. If she had had the ability to stop a hundred of them, surly it would have been easy enough, amnesia or not, to take care of only three.

His head hurt. With a whine he lowered it to put his paws over his eyes and muzzle. Yep. This was definitely one of those weeks. If he had for some reason brought Ilia along it could've ended up worse, so at least he could be grateful for that.

He sighed to himself. What happened to all his excitement? With twilight all in a mess here, surly Midna would appear eventually, wouldn't she? Unless she too was in as much trouble as the moon spirit and was confined somewhere. In that case, he was doomed. He could try sniffing through the desert for her palace, but how would he get there? Without Midna there couldn't be any transportation, nor could he blast himself over in a canon (which he was partially grateful for as well. Canon's were the least comfortable way to go and every time he got a nose bleed from it that wouldn't stop for hours—not to mention a good skid into the sand).

Twilight wasn't nearly as good as he had imagined. Especially without Midna. He had also seriously underappreciated the ability to turn into a man at will.

And now poor, innocent Luna…

Another high pitched whine escaped him. Zelda called out his name uncertainly, concerned, but he made no move to respond. For a few minutes they sat there, not really saying anything to each other (especially on his part). The earth kept shedding black flecks and the occasional black cloud drifted across the sky. Once or twice he was tempted to paw over to the large stone eastern bridge and peer over the edge at the water. Water had always been a source of contemplation for him, and he needed a good thinking now more than ever, for Luna had to be dead. The thought filled him with a sickly, acidic sense of dread and something agonizing. He hadn't even gotten the chance to know her. And she had been so willing to accept him, to befriend him…

_I know you, Link. You are why I am here._

Somewhere amidst their recuperation, his bones began to ache.

"Do you feel that?"

He ignored her, too lost in his self-loathing. What did it matter what she felt? At least she was safe now. He didn't need a physical update every hour. Besides, he would know if a monster would approach.

"I mean it's suddenly so…warm."

His tongue started to itch. Surprised, he let his paws slip down and look around. Actually…yes. It was getting pretty warm. Hot even.

Not meaning to, he started to pant, tongue lolling out. This annoyed him. There were so many weird dog habits that just came over him, but considering he couldn't sweat this would have to do. But even as he thought this he began to pant harder, for the air had turned oven-like, smothering in its heat. Zelda's face dripped with sweat. She looked to him in alarm.

"It happened so quickly. What's going on?"

But it just kept getting hotter and hotter. The pain in his bones spread to his skin and his legs began to shake. He knew this feeling. He was changing back. But why? Twilight was still upon them—wait. The sky! The sky was turning green! No, now it looked bluish.

A bright light pushed aside the black clouds. It grew brighter and brighter till he swore if he looked any longer he'd go blind. Fire filled his veins and he howled in pain. Why had he forgotten? Why had he forgotten how much changing hurt? His howls turned to yells as his limbs stretched, his joints readjusted, and his skin split to swallow up the fur.

Yet even as his transformation reached its end, the heat didn't dissipate. It had only grown hotter. He wheezed in the burning air, clutching the melting grass between his fingers. He was going to die. The heat would smother him and he would die.

"You mortal _bastard!?"_

He choked. The words shook his frame. Whoever spoke had a voice of thunder.

"How _dare_ you leave her behind! You did not even look behind to see if she was following! I believed you to be some kind of hero—pah!"

Goddesses, the heat. He longed to look up from the ground to see who spoke to him so angrily—to see what kind of being could speak with such power—but the greatness of the light shone through his eyelids.

"I should lift my barrier and let my true self burn you to a crisp! But noooo, _she_ had to be fond you and come down here for you—you, the dirty, selfish, pathetic mortal. Gah, what is wrong with you! Especially with twilight covering my view so I can't see a thing—"

"Who-who are you?"

"Take a wild guess, idiot. You're damn lucky I knew where you were and that your horse was there. Being what I am I couldn't touch a mortal without killing them. You better not screw this up again or I swear I'll have no inhibitions next time. You got that?"

Despite the fact he couldn't breathe, he grew angry. His lungs couldn't tell if there was air in them or not, but he had done his best! But even as he thought this he remembered how he had fought to protect Zelda, thinking Luna could take care of herself. What if she hadn't? He meant to say something, anything, to the raging voice, but it was just too hot. He could see black dots popping in his vision. His flesh had to be melting.

"You take care of her, Mr. Hero. One scratch—_one bruise_—and I won't be so kind the next time I see your ugly face again." Whoever it was paused for a moment. Then, he sighed. "I'm sorry to you however, princess. I did not mean to hurt you."

Next thing he knew he was gagging for cool air, clawing at the grass as he tried to reorganize his searing limbs. For one, horrifying moment he thought the thundering voice had made him deaf, for his ears were filled with ringing. After lying there in the cool, weeping for the pain, the ringing finally died down and he could hear Zelda besides him wheezing for breath.

She groaned. "Oh, Din…ow…"

"Goddesses, who was that?" his words came out a dry croak.

Pounds came through the ground to his freshly cleared ears. Wincing and aching, he forced his head up to look to the side. Hooves met his eyes. Past those hooves hung white feathers, their tips just meeting with the ground. A jolt ran through him and he forced himself onto his knees.

"Epona…" he stopped as he took in the state of his horse. Her sides were slick with sweat and her eyes rolled. A bit of foam crusted the corners of her black mouth. The horse hung its head down to him. Feeling weak with sympathy, he stroked her wet muzzle and heaved himself to his feet with a half born cry. His skin hurt. Like a…his eyes widened and he moved his fingers to his face, wincing at the touch.

Sunburn.

"He said take a wild guess." Zelda said, then she too recognized the feathers atop Epona and gasped. "Luna! Oh gods, Luna! Is she all right? Ah! It hurts to move…"

He painfully made his way to the side of Epona. "Luna? Luna, speak to me." he mentally face palmed himself (knowing his burnt face would hate him if he actually did it). "I mean, you don't need to. Just move or something. Are you all right?"

A wing twitched. Tremulously, she lifted her shag of white hair just enough before slumping once more over Epona's neck. She slid down it a bit. Ignoring the pain, he carefully scooped under her arms and guided her down to the ground, where he turned her over. Her eyes were closed. Zelda had managed to make it to her knees and was staring at him. Whatever bare skin she had was bright red.

"Link, you're human again."

He brushed aside the white hair, revealing Luna's pale face. Quickly he noticed a deep scratch running along the length of her cheek. The nightgown just barely clung on by the curve of her breasts and the pinch of her arms. He could see a large bruise blooming over her entire right shoulder.

"Luna?"

Her lashes flickered. They were long, thick, and white. Her lips quivered.

"You going to be okay?"

Her blue eyes shifted up to him. As she took in his face, a soft, tender smile broke across those not-quite-ripe strawberry lips.

His heart gave a pound. _But noooo, she had to be fond you…_echoed in his head. Instead of wondering what Luna's relation to this bright and burning person, he found himself stuck on those words and he didn't know why. Fond. She was fond of him.

_I know you…You are why I am here._

Why had she come for him? And where had she come from? As he watched her give a shaky breath and close her eyes, he lifted his head to the sky where the bright orb of the sun sat. All he could see left of twilight was a faint amber glow in the distance towards the castle. He touched his sunburn, thinking hard.

"Is she okay?"

Zelda was leaning over him, gazing down at the bundle of wings in his arms.

"The sun."

She gave him a very confused look. "What?"

"It was the sun. If there's a moon spirit, why can't there be a sun spirit? And if the moon spirit guards the borders of twilight, why can't the sun guard the borders of the land of light? That would explain how it-he-whatever could dispel the twilight and provide enough light to transform me back."

For a moment she just looked at him, and he could see the pieces snapping together in her head.

"But—but what does that mean about Luna? Why would the sun care about…" her eyes widened, "unless the light spirit was wrong."

From the quiet rhythm of Luna's breath, he guessed she had passed out. The stone on her head had dulled to an almost imperceptible glow. He brought up the image of her in twilight: bright and luminescent like a Sol. He thought of the coincidence of the moon vanishing the very night after he found her.

It couldn't be a coincidence. And yet…

"It just doesn't make sense."

Zelda furrowed her eyebrows, wincing when it aggravated her sunburn. "What doesn't make sense? Everything fits!"

"Yes, but…if she's the moon spirit, why is she here? And most importantly, why is she mortal? The moon spirit is suppose to be, well, an immortal being. Luna's the complete opposite of that. She's fragile and innocent and unknowing and—well, she can't even talk! Why's that?"

An emotion he couldn't read crossed over Zelda's face. For a moment they just looked at each other's sun-crisped faces. Then, she looked to the side, gaze downcast.

"You have a point…and if the moon-spirit has the ability to help keep the separation between twilight and light, everything that just happened wouldn't have. But, Link, I don't think that's the answer. It's just too much of a coincidence." she looked up at him. "She has to be the moon. Even her wings hint of her true origins: the sky. What else could she be? I think what we should really be asking is how or why she is even in the form she is now and why twilight has re-entered this land."

But Link already had a good idea what that was. The thought made his insides squirm and his mind spin. _You are why I am here…_

None of his feelings made sense anymore.

"We should get to Lanyru's spring. We can assess what we can do for Luna there, and the water would help our burns."

Zelda glanced down at the burnt skin showing above her gloves. "Oh, yes…"

Easing Luna onto his back (his horse deserved a rest), and keeping his teeth clenched against his smarting body, he signaled to Epona to follow, which she did with her head hanging. He turned to the side where a wooden walkway led down into the lake. Each step hurt and he tried not to think too much about just how much further he had to walk. This only made a space in his mind for disappointment, however, as he realized he had finally made it back to twilight, but not only had it not been what he had hoped to be (what was he expecting?), he hadn't been able to meet Midna at least one more time.

"Link…?"

"Yes, your highness? Do you need any help?"

"Oh, no. I can take care of myself. It is just…it's about Luna."

"I'm listening."

"I don't think she's completely mute."

This gave him pause, but not enough to stop walking. The sooner he got to the springs the better. Stupid sun. If only there was something he could wear to counteract that Din awful heat.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, back in twilight—back in the castle—I think she said something while we were defending ourselves against the Twili. It was…"

At the sudden quiet he glanced over his shoulder to see what was wrong. Zelda had a dreamy expression on her scarlet face. She sighed.

"It was the most beautiful sound, Link. You had to have heard it…didn't you?"

Feeling strange again, he turned around. Yes. Yes he had heard it—and more than once, whispering to him on the edge of sleep. He had thought the voice too musical to be a real. But if she could speak—and so beautifully so—why didn't she? Why had she acted as though to struggle speaking while she could speak all along? Wouldn't that have made it easier? And if she had been hiding her voice, had she been hiding her memories as well?

And why?


	7. Living After a Hero

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews and favorites! It helps me get more readers so that I can continue my studies in learning what stories people like to read most. And it's always so interesting to see how you think of this. Please, keep them coming! If you are interested, check out the other stories I have written on : 'Fantiality' and 'The Opal and the Genie,' a story I wrote for one of my little sisters and is so far the favorite amongst the small group of readers I have. They are perfect for lovers of a good adventure, a good story, and an icing of romance.**

Chapter 7: Living After a Hero

She lifted her wings to the ceiling, which rippled with reflected light of the spring. Even though each movement of hers were weak and sluggish, he could not help but admire the strange grace they held. He sat in the shallows of the pool, enjoying the cool water on his burned skin. As he watched, something dormant inside him stirred, but not uncomfortably so, and for the first time in a long time the itch to howl, the itch to run and scream, had died down.

Luna ducked down once more into the water for another rinse. The nightgown's state bordered unmentionable, and even from the distance he sat at he could see the unbuttoned back just stopping at her lower back. The cotton gown stuck to her skin, making him glad his face was already as red as it could get.

He flinched back to awareness when Zelda took a seat beside him in only the underslip of her dress. The embroidered overlay, accessories, and heavy overskirt lay in a heap next to the entrance with his mail, shield, sword, and other equipment. For a minute she said nothing, seeming equally entranced by the pale form of Luna. Even as they looked on they could see the awful bruises and gashes disappearing and feathers growing back where they had been torn. Link had never seen a spring heal someone so fast, but he guessed Lanyru had figured out who she was by now.

"You should have told me about her sooner. We could have gotten the poor girl some clothes."

"I told you as soon as I could, princess."

When he felt her gaze on him he made sure to pointedly look away from Luna. He had not forgotten the awkward request of hers earlier. _Courtship_, he thought blithely. What do you say to that? By the way she fidgeted and wrapped her arms about her legs, she had not forgotten either.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked.

"Well, taking you back home is out of the question. From what I could see, twilight was only dissipated from the area we are in by our temperamental friend."

She frowned. "Link, I wouldn't talk that way about a guardian spirit."

"Why?"

"It's disrespectful. He might not take kindly to it."

"He _burned_ me! He's already not taking kindly to me at all!"

"He burned me too."

"Yeah, well, at least he apologized to you. Because of him I'm a walking piece of bacon. I can even feel myself crunching every time I move, ugh."

The side of her mouth twitched. "I wonder why the sun spirit expected you to take care of her."

He didn't answer, though his stomach did an uncomfortable sort of flop. She didn't press him for answers, but bit her lip sullenly.

"This is…all quite confusing. I'm not sure what to do."

"Welcome to my world."

"What do you mean?"

Again, he didn't answer, though his irritation grew. As he remembered back in the castle, one of his greatest frustrations was having Midna, light spirits, and Princess Zelda pulling him along by the fur of his neck without entirely explaining to him beforehand. It had been as though he wasn't important enough to inform, just a pawn or toy to meet certain ends.

What the sun spirit had demanded of him just made him feel used all over again.

He stood and waded deeper into the springs for another plunge into the water. Luna turned at the sound of his sloshing and graced him with another of her tender smiles that jerked at something hot in his chest. What if she had come down here because…what if she did…damn it, was he to be obligated to feel the same way?

Even as he thought this, his sensation of being used just increased. First Zelda, now Luna? Was he just some man-prize to be won? He wouldn't be surprised if he returned home to find Ilia begging him to marry her so she could escape the fate of marrying whoever her father had chosen.

He dunked himself deep into the pool, wondering how long he could stay under before surfacing. The water soothed his burns. He sighed in relief and bubbles whirled past his face. At least Midna had been blunt about using him. She told him she meant to use him as a tool straight out. Did he like that or not? He didn't know. All he knew was that he wanted out of there. He almost wanted to ditch them all and just run and run till he reached some high peek to scream at, or an empty space in the forest where no one would hear him.

Eventually, he had to come up for air. Luna was before him, crouched in the water up to her shoulders. Her white hair stuck to her cheeks and her wings floated behind her like silky cloak. The angry desire to flee wavered as he met her eyes. They were soft, open, and gentle. His breath left him in a whoosh of ripples across the water's surface. It did not calm him entirely, though, as another thought boiled to the surface of his mind.

"Why did you pretend to be mute?"

She started, sending a prickle of feathers above the water's surface. He didn't say anything, but waited. When she shook her head and gave him a wide-eyed look of dismay, he frowned.

"Both Zelda and I heard you. Unless you're using some weird form of telepathy, I don't think you're mute. Why can't you just speak to me? Is there something wrong with your throat?"

She lifted up her hands out of the water in a shrug. Then, as though to prove her point, she opened her mouth and let out a rasp of air. He thought he could catch the tall-tale sign of panic in her eyes. He felt his frustration returning.

"Why are you pretending to have amnesia then?" without thinking, he blurted, "Were you thinking of manipulating my pity so I'd let you tag along? Because thanks a lot, now your sun friend is after my hide."

She shook her head furiously, offering her hands to him, her lips moving. Somewhere amidst all their fluttering he thought he heard a very soft, almost non-existent, "No."

Link reeled himself in. This wasn't like him. He was acting over emotional. He was being rude and rash once more. Standing up the rest of the way, he turned to go back to shore. Perhaps Zelda and him could figure out their next move. She was a princess and princesses read a lot, right? Maybe she'd know some random legend they could chase after. Because, so far, he wasn't sure how to get the moon back into the sky and that seemed to be…

He stopped. The moon back into the sky. Surely that was the problem here. If they got Luna back into the sky—

He turned back just to find a winged girl near to tears following him, soaked wings floating about her like snow.

"Luna, whatever your reason for coming down here, go back. The world is falling apart right now because of you, so I don't have time for your games, okay? Sorry if I am rude, but go back to wherever you came from and leave me alone."

The white girl stopped, blue eyes wider than they'd ever been. For a second utter bewilderment crossed her face and he wondered in the back of his mind if he had been wrong about her amnesia. Then, to his horror, she burst into tears.

And then Zelda was beside him in the water, mouth thin with anger.

"What did you do that for?!"

"What else was I suppose to do? The reason this is all happening is because she decided to ditch her post, isn't it?"

"But going and accusing her of all that? You don't know if she's lying or not! Maybe her voice only works once in a while, or even more, _maybe we were just hearing things!_"

"But the sun spirit made it sound as though she choose this! Why would she ditch her memories and voice as well?"

Luna just stood there and cried silent sobs, tears tracking water down her face. Of course he felt guilty, but for some reason it translated into some strange monster of frustration and rage and disappointment. Fists clenched, he turned his back to them and shoved his way to shore where he furiously squeezed the water out of his hat. Zelda sloshed after him.

"Is this really who you are, then? A grumpy man who takes out his frustrations on assumptions?"

"Din, princess, why does it matter?"

"Because I want to know you! I want to know the man who single-handedly saved Hyrule—who saved all of us!"

He snorted. "Single handedly? Wow, aren't you misinformed."

"I know. That's why I'm trying to find out. Now please, tell me, what's going on inside that head of yours? I know this can't be the real you."

Despite the fact he could hardly think through the confusing potion of emotions, he slowed in his twisting and let the hat unfurl in his hands. He fingered the wrinkles before awkwardly slapping it back over his head.

"I'm just tired of it all, okay? Just tired."

"Tired of what?"

"Just all of it."

"So you're tired of life? Please, Link, talking will help you."

Then, as though it had been intending to happen all along, he exploded.

"Din damn it, leave me alone! You don't know anything! Not you, not Ilia, not Midna—all of you know nothing! I'm just a tool to you—so don't scold me or get into my life when you don't understand a thing!"

And with that he fled out the spring and into the dying sunlight outside. Twilight was approaching and it just made him angrier because of the jolt of despondence it sent through him. He was so tired of it all. So tired! And yet a voice in the back of his head was screaming at him for yelling at a princess, for making Luna cry, for acting so irrational, for acting so unlike himself and demanding he make logic out of it. Fueled by his rage he sprinted up the ramp and dove into the lake. He swam on, not caring where he went, though something in the back of his mind pointed him to the secluded spat of land at the corner of the lake.

By the time he reached the other side twilight had come and gone. His energy had been spent insomuch he barely had the strength to drag himself onto shore. For the better part, his emotions had been spent as well and he felt a blessed null.

That was until he realized his hat was missing.

He cursed, but swearing didn't make him feel any better. Nor did the growl of his stomach. Grumbling to himself, he forced his shaking legs under him and trudged up the small hills of grass where a small spring fed by a waterfall stood. As he thought he would, he found some fish. But then he realized he had no flint to start a fire with even if he did manage to catch them. He groaned. Why did he have to be so stupid? Now he was starving and stranded without food. Sure he could swim back—he looked back across the lake and groaned again. Yeah…swim back. On an empty stomach.

He collapsed into the grass, hands digging through his soggy, hatless hair.

"Din, what is wrong with me?"

A lone cricket played its legs in the grass somewhere around him. The grass felt cold and dewy underneath his drying, sunburnt skin. As night came on he rolled onto his back and watched the stars peep out one by one, then in droves, filling up the skies in multi-colored clouds. For a long time he thought and he thought, scanning himself. He couldn't act like this. He couldn't be this way. And yet the frustration wouldn't leave. It made him want to roar all over again, but he didn't, even though he was alone. He was just too tired and too disappointed in himself. Zelda probably thought him a bloody jerk, now. And poor Luna, what if she hadn't been deceiving him? She hadn't deserved that. Nor had Ilia deserved his lashes either.

A breeze blew across his face. A familiar thump sounded beyond his feet. He didn't bother to look over as Luna crawled into his view, wings tucked in tightly and her expression open and sorry-so very, very sorry. He felt his stomach twist as she cautiously curled up next to him, leaving only a bare centimeter between actually touching him.

"Luna?"

There was a small choking noise and for a minute he thought she had begun to sob again.

"Oh no, Luna, don't…"

"I-I-I'm sorry."

The beauty of the sound, though strained, knocked the breath from him. It boarded on inhuman and even unearthly, and even those short two words sounded like a song.

It took him a bit to find his breath again, let alone coherency of thought.

"_L-Luna?_"

"H-hurts…to speak."

"Godesses, that's really you? That's your voice? Oh Farore…"

"I'm so s-s-sorry, I'm s-so sorr—" she coughed and whimpered.

Link sat up to see her better and put a hand to her forearm. "Don't be, I…I was a, okay, I was a real jerk, I should be the one who is sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me of late. I…did you fly here? Is Zelda all right?"

She nodded, hand still to her throat.

"You probably never spoke because it hurt, right?"

Sitting up, she bit her lip and looked to the side. Then he noticed a wad of green cloth gripped tightly in her hand. As though feeling his eyes, she offered it to him. It was his hat, a bit crumpled and wet, but unharmed. He beamed at her. She met his eye nervously, and in the dim light of the stars her whiteness glowed and even her sky blue eyes had a sort of luminescence to them.

"I…It was a-at first. But also because I was…" her hand clenched a bit tighter around her throat. "Afraid."

"Afraid? Whatever for?"

She looked down. Curtains of hair dropped into her face. "I…I don't sound human. You're human. I'm a freak."

"Luna, you sound beautiful! Oh Farore, I've never heard anything like it. It's like," he chuckled, "it's like you're some goddess or something. I guess moon spirit qualifies enough, right? That is what you are, isn't it?"

Luna wagged her head sadly. "Not human."

He waited for her to answer, but her hand just clenched around her throat and her wings pressed in on her ever tighter. For once the ragged nightgown was secure on her shoulders and he wondered if Zelda had anything to do with that. Not wanting to push her injured voice further, he brought his knees up and leaned his arms against them to return to star gazing. His stomach gave another grumble, but he ignored it. For some time they sat in quiet, listening to the water hush to itself and the lone cricket creak. The small waterfall besides them tinkled softly. Across the lake he could see the lights of the canon guru glowing orange and strong across the dark water.

He plucked a strand of grass and twisted it between his fingers.

"I should not have said those things back there. I just feel so frustrated, like I should be doing something or I'm trapped, or…or I'm in some dungeon all over again, surrounded my monsters and looking for the treasure at the end, but this time I can't see the monsters and I'm afraid there's no treasure at the end, and no one is willing to explain to me why I'm here."

The blue eyes looked out from between the waves of white, asking 'why'?

"I'm…well…back there, in the spring, I was thinking how I felt used. From the beginning of all this I was used as 'the chosen hero,' like some sort of pawn. Sure I wanted to save Ilia and Collin and the rest of them—and I wasn't going to be so heartless as to leave someone in need. But no one bothered to explain to me what was expected of me—what was my so called destiny. I just kind of got pulled into it by Midna and suddenly I found myself facing down these monsters, these…"

Involuntarily, he shuddered.

"And now it's like they expect me to be okay with that and to move on with life now that it's all over. But I can't just 'move on.' I…I'm not the same. I don't know what happened, but I'm not the same as I was before I left Ordon. I've…Luna, I've killed things and people, I've faced down the dead, the broken, the corrupted, the weak and the sick and cruel. There are ways this world work that I just can't accept—like why does someone like Midna have to be bad? Why are those of twilight considered outcasts? Must they forever be paying for the crimes of their fathers? And why am I the so called chosen of the gods? Why…why did I have to do all that…that…"

He felt his hands shaking against each other and clenched his shins tighter to stop them. Luna just listened, eyes set on him. Oddly enough, he didn't feel nervous.

"I don't know what I am anymore. I don't know what my use is anymore. If I'm not a hero, who am I? I'm not a goat herder. I'm not some guy to be stuffed into a forest forever. But my destiny is over. I dream nightmares that make me want to scream myself hoarse, and for what? I once ran across the ground as wolf—I once explored the ends of the earth with an other-worldly being—I once was something greater."

He stopped. What was he saying? That he was some conceited has-been?

"And everyone expects me…to just…they expect of me to do these things…be a hero..."

A breeze blew through the soft spruce branches.

"I expect nothing of you."

He looked at her. She shifted, spreading out her legs and leaning against her hands. When he recalled why she was probably there he couldn't help but scowl and had to work to not get frustrated again.

"How can you say that? The sun spirit said you came here because you were fond of me or something like that. How can you…how…" he felt heat crawl up into his face. How was he suppose to even talk about that?

Those blues eyes seemed so expansive then, like the sky itself. In the soft sheen of starlight on her hair and the glimmer of feathers, he couldn't see how she could not be the moon. Even the dirty, ratty nightgown seemed glamoured on her otherworldly form. Carefully, as though afraid to frighten him, she tucked her legs back underneath herself again and put him beneath her intent gaze. Her bangs parted just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the tiny stone on her head glowing a beautiful opal.

"I don't remember being a moon spirit or any sun spirit. I don't even know how I got here and where I'm from." She winced as her musical, heavenly voiced cracked and her fingers flittered once more to her throat. Her gaze, however, did not leave him. "But I do know, more than a-a-anything-" she coughed. "Link, I love you. I came here only to make you happy."


	8. Between the Black of Night and Day

**Author's note: Oh gal, this chapter was awful. Note to self: never write when extremely stressed over cars and titles. I tried to fix it without having to rewrite the whole thing, but that would probably be the best thing to do. Hopefully it serves its purpose and supports the next chapter. *sigh* I'm sorry. Rough drafts, right?**

Chapter 8: Between the Black of Night and Day

He stared at her. Sure, he had suspected something along the lines of that, but hearing it aloud was something else entirely. He didn't have much longer to zone out over this, for right after she had said this she fell into a coughing fit, a hand clutched about her throat while the other covered her mouth. When it didn't stop he grew alarmed.

"Luna? Luna, are you going to be—" he stopped abruptly as something dark splattered across the grass before her and across the back of her hand.

Blood.

He began to panic. "Just relax, now. Don't fight it. Slowly, breathe."

With painstaking slowness her hacking eventually subsided. She leaned over onto her side, wings limp and her face pale. Using his hat as a rag, he soaked it in the spring and took it upon himself to clean the blood off of her hand. Her skin was cool, but not icy, like moonlight on a summer night.

"Is this what happens when you try to talk?"

She shivered and bowed her head, but said nothing more. He took this as answer enough.

"Then don't bother. I don't want you to hurt yourself over me."

"But you want—" she started to say, but then the coughing begun all over again. He pressed the hat to her mouth to catch the blood. The whole ordeal made him slightly nauseous with himself.

"No." he said to her. "Don't talk. I…I'm sorry for pressing you into this. I shouldn't have made those assumptions. It's just…I guess I got kinda rushed in fixing all this…"

Her cool hand wrapped about his wrist. Above the green fabric of his hat her eyes gazed up into his, tender and understanding. A hot jolt ran up his spine and curled into his stomach. Moved by his gut feelings, he dropped his hat and pulled her into an embrace. Her soft white hair brushed passed his face with the scent of something cool, crisp, and sweet.

Innocent. In her eyes he had seen the truth of the spirit's words more than ever. She was utterly innocent. How had he ever doubted her?

"Why did you do this to yourself?" he murmured into her mane. "Why did you demean yourself to this mortal existence? To this pain? This isn't worth it."

In answer, she lifted her wings, breaking his hold on her to wrap them about him like great arms. With him tucked deep in her feathery embrace, she lifted herself up and kissed him so softly it was hardly a kiss at all, but it sent every hair on his body on end nonetheless. From there she trailed her cheek against his, chastely nuzzling his chin, his ear, and against the curve of his neck.

And so softly that he almost missed it, she whispered, "I know you."

On the edge of his mind, he wondered what had ever happened to his dreams of Midna. Didn't he have feelings for her? And what was happening now? Why did he feel so paralyzed? And why wasn't he pushing Luna away when the feelings holding him fast were vast and frightening and so much larger than him?

His stomach gave an ache of hunger, but it was enough to snap him back to his senses. She was the moon spirit, for Din's sake! This couldn't be happening, it would just screw everything up even more. And what of Midna? And Zelda? No! He would not get involved in any sort of girlish sweepstakes! Besides, it was just all moving way too fast. Luna didn't know what she was doing. He needed to get out of here—this was bad, very bad.

…why?

He pushed her away from him. It was easy, for she was eager to comply to his wishes, but she bowed her head apologetically, a faint blush on her face.

"Luna, don't do-"

A throb shook his body, snapping his teeth together with the pain. He groaned and pulled back his hands from her. He could feel her feathers fluttering about him as she grew distressed by his pain. She started coughing when she tried to inquire what was happening. He tried to answer, but his body gave another awful throb. Heart thudding, he forced his gaze up into the sky, searching for signs of twilight.

Nothing. The sky looked normal and peaceful as ever.

_Why am I changing?_ he thought, hearing his blood pound past his ears and feeling his bones ache.

"Link-!" she coughed hard. He felt a miniscule droplet of blood on his arm.

"Hush." he choked out. "Stop-"

A howl tore from his throat as the pain climaxed. Skin split once more, fur grew out, bones bent and rearranged.

And just as soon as it had started, it was over, and he was panting on the grass in a wolf's body, horribly confused. Feathers filled his vision as she crouched over him, face fearful.

He didn't have long to look at her before they were surrounded by black figures, rattling and tinkling. Ink like hands wrapped about her, wings and all. She gasped.

He forced himself to his feet with a bark. _Luna!_

The Twili had caught up—and they had grown. Even crouched over on all fours like they preferred the shadow beings had to have reached seven feet tall. A strange amber light radiated from them like their own personal atmosphere. Luna flapped furiously in their grasps, hissing and gnashing her teeth, but they just ignored her struggles. Link threw himself at the nearest limb, biting deep into the flesh only to find himself flung into the air. He skid head first into the lake. He jumped back out, snarling, running for all he was worth.

He made it back to them in time to watch their black hands reach for the stone on her forehead—the very stone that he had never given much thought to.

The agonized scream Luna gave rent the air, inhuman and unbearably terrible in its beauty. The noise tore a scream out of his own throat and his legs turned to rubber. Before his very eyes the stars began to fall past the horizon and the lake water began to churn. Grass wilted black and the tinkling of the waterfall stopped. Darkness slinked over the land, making it rain familiar dark flakes into the sky.

He knew what the Twili would do a fraction of a second before he saw the portal appear in the sky, blocky and black. The tops of the creatures' heads began to break apart into squares to flake up into the portal. The winged girl in their hands had fallen deathly still. Her once pink lips were dyed red.

_Luna!_

He leaped, jaws agape, paws outspread.

! #$# ^$%^&^*^%#$! #!~ $# %^&%^$%

Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit wasn't entirely sure how he had managed to get so far off course in looking for the stud his sister had sent him after. Wanting to be an unnaturally good brother, he had agreed to take the carefully shaped walnut heart to a male squirrel on the west side of the forest. The nutmeat in question he now had clutched tight against his chest and it took all his self-control to resist the intoxicating scent of it. If only he could find a nice she-squirrel to settle down with that smelt just like a walnut. Wouldn't that just be fine? Maybe this squirrel his sister was so fond of would have a sister.

But sitting at the edge of the forest, looking out at the great expanse of sand before him rather than a squirrel den, he knew a mate was going to be the least of his worries. He had already began to wonder if he was destined to be a normal, lousy squirrel brother no matter how hard he tried, for no squirrel could live in a place like the one he now stared at, no matter how studly. The way the sand went on as far as the eye could see was quite frightening to Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit, and the only reason he hadn't turned away then and there to flee was because of his great depression at having found himself useless once more. Squeak'n-crack would be mad at him for weeks. She'd never forgive him.

Especially having found that he had eaten her beautiful, groomed walnut heart.

He stared down at it in his paws, feeling his stomach rumble most horribly. There was no way he'd be able to make it all the way back without eating something. And any normal squirrel would understand if they too had had to smell it all day long, oh so tempting and inviting.

With a heavy sigh, the squirrel brought the nut to his mouth. Already he could feel the saliva building. This would have to be the highlight of his day—even if it was contaminated by guilt.

A mass of black appeared in the night sky. Startled, he froze with his teeth hovering over the treat. Black specks fell down from the hole, filling in forms that he couldn't quite see. But amongst all the black he saw a figure of white he thought he recognized. Even as he watched the creatures shuffled across the desert, dragging the winged girl behind them. A few turned as one last grey form fell from the sky and materialized. From then on Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit watch on in rapture as an intense, but brief battle ensued between what looked like a large wolf and the even larger black monster. The monster gave the wolf a good thwack to the head and it fell to the side, unmoving.

He twittered to himself. Now, what could be going on over there? Not that it was any of his business. He could at least refrain himself from being a bad brother in the regards of keeping his nose to himself.

Finally, he noticed the growing glow in the sky. Despite the late hour of the night, gold bled across the heavens and a strange sensation came over his body that caused the precious walnut heart to slip past his fingers by its oils and fall down to the darkening earth. His fur went on end. The tingling through his body was maddening. Fear washed over him, soon overcoming him till he saw nothing at all but the glowing gold and black flakes. The shadows were moving. The wolf was not. The stars were falling, one by one.

Fear, fear, fear…

He screeched, teeth bared, and then knew nothing.

#$% $#^%$&%^^#$# #$#!&&*%$## $#

"Link?"

He hurt. Especially in his head.

"Link? Come on. Wake up. You've been through worse than this."

Luna. Where was Luna?

"Oy! Wolfy!"

He had to get to her. He had to stop them—stop them from taking her. Images of forgiving blue eyes flashed across his mind. He had to—wait. That voice. He recognized that voice.

With the sound of his own canine whining in his ears, he slowly opened his eyes. Bright, almost glowing orange eyes met his. The slate skinned face smiled, and even that simple expression held amazing elegance.

Midna.

"Ah, good dog." she reached out and rubbed his ear as though no time at all had passed between them. Orange hair framed her face and dripped down between her breasts. She continued to scratch behind the ear until he shook off her hand and scrambled to his feet. All around them twilight moved, shedding the earth, blackening the clouds, and making the sky glow gold. He took an eyeful of her in, breathing in the very sight of her, though she wasn't alone. Two-toned, slightly misshaped Twili stood about her, expressions baleful, but otherwise normal. They watched him curiously.

He opened his mouth to ask the millions of questions on his tongue, but of course, all that came out was a gruff bark before he remembered he was stuck as a wolf.

Midna smirked, and he wasn't surprised to see a bit of her old impish fang stick out. Recognizing it blew him away. It was her. It was really her. He couldn't believe it. All he could do was stare.

"You're probably wondering why you can't turn back human although I'm here."

No. He had wondered once or twice, though. More than that, though, he was just shocked to see her. Where had she come from? Forget why he was a wolf, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The princess, however, just continued on as though she hadn't just randomly appeared before him with her entourage after a year of nothing. He almost didn't hear what she had to say. Had her features always been so sharp? So regal? Was this really the true her? For not the first time, he tried to recognize the mischievous imp that had ridden on his back over all Hyrule.

"For starters, this isn't the twilight realm. If everyone chucked into the twilight realm was turned into spirits on the spot, how do you think we came to be? Spirits are a bit challenged when it comes to making babies, if you get my gist."

He snorted. She interpreted this as annoyance, and said, "Sorry puppy, you know I can't change you back here. You're just going to have to be speechless at the sight of me as a beastie."

Her sarcasm was the same as always. He recognized that at least and smiled. It was the best he could do to express how he felt. She smiled back at him. Then, against his expectations of her, she swooped down and caught him up in a tight hug. Her lanky Twili arms felt hard against his fur.

"It's good to see you again."

It took all his power to stop his tongue from lolling out in a full blown pant of happiness. He felt numb with it. Whatever happened from now on would be fine. Everything was back to normal. He was where he belonged. Midna was finally back.

But Luna.

And then his panic returned. He tugged out of Midna's grip, looking pointedly off into the horizon. But it was then he realized he couldn't remember in which direction the monsters had taken her and found himself turning round and round in circles, fear welling higher and higher till he could hardly control it. What if they hurt her? No, what if they killed her? The moon was mortal now—but forget that, Luna came down for him. Him. Damn it if she should die now without him saying something about it. He was the chosen hero of the gods! That had to mean something.

Midna, however, was understandably confused…and somewhat annoyed.

"Will you calm down? Seriously. I need your help and you're not going to know how to fix your precious light world without me."

One of the Twili besides her twittered something to her he couldn't understand. She responded back in turn before staring him down until he forced himself still. The hair on his back stood on end. He didn't quite care what she had to say.

"I'm searching for some…off people of mine."

His ears went straight up.

"Supposedly my spies have taken note of a party of these corrupted ones returning from the world of light to here, and because it's impossible for those of the Twilight realm to find their way into the world of light on their own, we were hoping to follow them. Have you seen anything? I'm guessing you had a tuffy with them, am I right?"

He nodded furiously, practically leaping off his haunches to do another circle. Yes! But they had to hurry. Luna, the moon, for her sake they must rush with all speed. He never loathed not being able to speak more than then. Though facing a fearful Rusl speechless with a sword had been pretty bad as well.

One of the Twili twittered to her again. She looked up sharply.

"Are you sure?"

It nodded solemnly. 'It' because he could never tell their gender either. Made him wonder once more what made Midna so different.

"We have limited time. If only I could communicate with Zelda in some way in order to figure out what has been going on in the world of light as well." She paused. "She is all right…isn't she?"

He nodded hesitantly. He had not forgotten about Zelda, but in all the rush she had, admittedly, fallen to the side in his mind. He had a good bet that she was in the safest place possible in a light spirit's spring considering latter happenings, though that didn't help him feel any less guilty for having vanished after chewing her out. Midna noticed the droop in his ears.

"What's that face for?" then, unlike Zelda, she realized a wolf couldn't talk and waved a hand. "Nevermind. Help me track my people first. And be quick."

He nodded and instantly sharpened his senses for the search. It didn't take him long to notice a tiny downy feather in the sand, which he sniffed eagerly. It made him sneeze as it fluttered to his nose, but he had the scent, cool, crisp, and sweet as blossoms.

As they followed after him across the desert with the soft pattering of Twili feet, a bit of his elation returned and it became hard to hold back his speed so they could keep up. The feel of the sand urged him to bolt, to run as fast as he could—to feel flakes of the world flutter and whirl off his form.

But what of Midna? What had she meant that they only had limited time? And when he finally could return to his true form, what would he say to her? How he had missed her? How he dreamt of her? How he found himself sketching pictures of her out of loneliness? How he never realized the moon he so often gazed up at wishing for her had been gazing back as well? He didn't know anymore. But had he ever known?

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed the dark looks Midna kept shooting over her shoulder towards what was left of the land of light.


	9. What's More Lonely than the Moon

**Author's Note: Seduction, reduction, baby this is perfection—SHIKIRA! However that stupid song of her's goes.**

**Beloved readers, enjoy. I tried very hard to make this better than the last chapter, which hurt my liver more than I can say. I may just die of cirrhosis, or whatever that weird liver disease is called.**

**I'm an English Major. Can't you tell? I have excellent mastery over my words, like surly instead of surely. Yeah…**

Chapter 9: What's More Lonely than the Moon

Twilight always made the weather strange. It didn't nullify it, by all means, but it did tame it. Where before the desert would have blazed with heat to the point of unbearable (especially in all his mail and the thick hero garb), it was only stuffy in its warmth. The cold was chilly, but never bone frosting as it had been up at Yeto's mansion (there his tunic hadn't been nearly thick enough). Nevertheless, after an hour or so of galloping along, his tongue hung out of his mouth and he longed to tear off the fur from his body. The Twili behind him followed him without a complaint. Luna's scent blazed white before him.

By now he had gotten over his ecstasy and had begun to notice something strange with Midna. Usually she would have snapped something sarcastic to him about how he ran or about her circumstances, but she was unnaturally quiet. She hadn't even complained about jogging this whole distance, though it certainly was a sight to see those long legs put to work. He wondered if it had something to do with the long-armed Twili running besides her. More than once he caught their doleful eyes watching him as he trotted along. It made his fur prickle.

But Luna's trail was growing stronger. He didn't have time to worry about what could be going on in the Twilight Realm. They were growing closer. He must not have been out for too long. Heart pounding, he lifted up his nose from the ground to focus further ahead, hoping he could catch a glimpse of them, but nothing yet.

Midna glanced behind her.

They crested a mound of sand—and he saw them, trudging along in the distance in all their black glory. In their midst was the white form which was Luna.

With a loud howl he threw himself off the hill, flung his inhibitions to the wind, and let his paws fly down to them. Jaws agape, wind whipping past him, he only had eyes for the whiteness between them. If even one hair on her head was harmed, he'd have no qualms for showing just why he was the chosen hero of the gods.

He fell upon them in a fury of gnashing teeth and claws. The abnormally large Twili quickly turned on him in equal fury, dropping Luna to the ground with a dead flop. He weaved through a barrage of black claws. He leapt at a few throats, skidding back when he was blocked by limbs. There had to be only three of them, but he felt outnumbered nonetheless. If only Midna were on his back, stretching out her magic to hold them fast while he—

A bright, jagged flash of orange-pink light struck the nearest Twili, jumping to the others. All three monsters froze, hands in the air. Out of instinct, he shot forward, slicing teeth against throats and launching off torsos. He caught a flash of Midna with her hand outstretched. A smile warmed him. She hadn't forgotten her stuff then.

It still didn't stop the sick feeling he got in his gut when he saw the normal Twili besides her and remembered what he had just felled. People. Not just monsters or animals. He brushed it away as quick as he could by rationalizing that he had to protect Luna.

All three masked Twili fell, unmoving, un-rattling. A second later they burst into familiar, square tiles and flew into the air with the rest of the flaking earth. He looked up into the shifting black and gold sky and wondered where the Twili flew off to before remembering Luna.

She laid unmoving, wings askew and hair dyed tan by the sand. Whatever Zelda had done to the back of the nightgown to hold it together had been torn and her bare back was smeared with wet sand. His heart gave an awful pound. Fear rushed through him, quick and icy hot. He made to move to her side.

"Stop!"

Automatically, he stilled, but didn't spare Midna the look he knew she'd interpret as annoyed, wolf or not. A smile played on her purple lips. The prickling feeling of 'wrongness' ran down his spine once more.

"I see you haven't lost your efficiency in the least, Link."

He frowned and turned back to going to Luna-

-to find a black fist coming towards his face, alit with broken lines of green. For the briefest of seconds that seemed to stretch on, he felt an ugly sort of surprise, like missing a step down a staircase in the dark. He barely had the beginnings of a yelp on his tongue before all went dark, and he had no space to think, feel, or know anything.

The last thing he saw was the golden sky tingeing with green.

$%^%&^*&^*$%# !$#$^$*&(*&^$%$#

When he next came too, the first thought he had was that he was sick and tired of being knocked out. What was wrong with blind folding him? Or tying his hands behind his back? His head ached on the edge of his consciousness and he felt oddly heavy, as though someone had filled his limbs up with sand. For all he knew, they had. Yet the more he came closer to full awareness, the more he realized, with some surprise, that whatever he was laying on was very soft. Dungeons don't feel soft. And surely if they had taken the time to knock him out they would have wanted him in some cell or other.

But it wasn't just a faceless 'them' that had knocked him out.

It had been Midna.

He opened his eyes.

Hovering above him was the very face he had just thought of; elegant, regal, and beautiful. Cat-like orange eyes met his. Long orange tresses dripped on his bare chest. Bare?

She smiled.

"Ah, the beastie has awakened."

He scowled, feeling each muscle in his face remembering how to work. "Don't call me that. Where's my clothes?"

"You tell me."

For a brief, horrifying minute he thought he had transformed back naked, but even as he glanced down he saw his trousers and groaned for another reason. His clothes, his mail, his weapons—all back with Zelda, in Lanyru's spring. Three stupid points for him.

He settled a none too happy glare on Midna.

"What was that for? And where are we?"

"What was what for?"

"You know what, don't play coy with me."

She giggled, and it was the same sound as he remembered. "Don't ask too many questions. It may confuse your little brain."

"I'm already confused, now where are we?"

"My palace." she purred.

Something unpleasant tickled the back of his mind. Midna was acting very odd; very pleased with herself. Had he just never seen this side of her? No, he had seen her pleased many time, and always it was the same, impish grin and the same mischievous giggle. So why did her character still seem so off? He frowned and took in his surroundings for the first time. Turquoise and black drapes surrounded him and the window he could see on a black stone wall. The softness he was feeling was a bed beneath him, and with a jolt in his stomach that had nothing to do with Midna's odd behavior, he took notice of the situation they were in. Him, half naked, on a large silky bed that was mostly likely Midna's, with the owner herself stretched out long and lithe besides him.

The images popping in his head made it very hard to concentrate. She wasn't wearing her long, hooded cloak and he could see the entire stretch of her legs.

The worst part was, he couldn't tell with the Twili whether they were dressed or not.

Doing his best to ignore all this, including the extra speed to his thumping heart, he asked, "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Goddesses, Midna, the winged girl! Luna! And why did you bring me here anyways? It's rather…"

Her smirk, if possible, widened. He could see the little fang poking out once more past her purple lips.

"Oh, her. What an ironic name, Luna. Did you name her that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she's just…resting up, somewhere else. And don't you like it here? I thought it would be more comfortable."

Catching his eyes trailing up her hip, he shook his head and sat up. Comfortable was far from what he felt. The tight tingling of his instincts had started making him suspicious. This sensation had always come up when he was on the verge of a puzzle or a monster waiting in ambush. Something was amiss.

Yet, this was Midna…beautiful, elegant Midna, just lounging next to him on a soft bed. Even as his insides trembled, he wondered what he was complaining about. Isn't this what he wanted? Isn't this what he had dreamt of?

His uneasiness wouldn't leave.

"Midna…why did you bring me back here? You know I don't belong here. Besides, you don't mind the land of the light, if I remember right."

Her smile finally stiffened.

"I just have a small qualm with the sun, that's all. It doesn't agree with my complexion."

His nerves went on end. The sun spirit. "Since when has that been the case? What did you do to get on the sun's badside?"

"What is up with you?" She sat up, her smile gone. "I know that look. You don't trust me."

"What did you—"

"Stop it. You're starting to annoy me." She crossed her legs tantalizingly close to his own. The smile returned, but not her usual smirk, but sultry, tempting. "Just relax. Everything will make sense soon. I just need your help with something, that's all."

Heat crawled up from deep within him and into his face as she leaned towards him. He could feel her breasts now, pressing softly into the side of him. A voice in his head started shouting in warning, but his thoughts had started tripping over themselves and jumbling into knots. If she had a qualm with the sun where she had none before—but, how interesting, her skin really was two toned—but the sun was so protective of Luna. Sweet, innocent Luna, probably hurt somewhere…

"Wh-where is—"

"Really, Link. You should stop being so fussy and just, you know, catch up on old times with me. How's life?"

"Uh, yes? No—wait, what?"

She laughed, high and tinkling. "What have you been up to? Have you gotten a girlfriend yet? How about that Ilia girl?"

"I-Ilia? No. No, she's…she's on a manhunt."

"A manhunt?" she snorted. "Are there even any single men in that hovel you call a town?"

He could feel her breath now, whisping across his neck, so he forgot to smart at her slander of his home. Her hair was tickling his arm and shoulder now and again he wondered what kind of clothes Twili wore. He could feel his spine melting into itself, wanting to lie back down as one of her slender feet touched his own.

"Not really." he said.

"Then how is she on a manhunt? Unless the hunt is after you."

"Um…no. No, not really."

"I don't blame her. I've been very lonely this past year. So lonely."

Something was so off with this picture. But aw, Din, he couldn't think straight anymore. This couldn't be real. It was just too good. This was…this was…

Then, somehow, he was down again.

And Midna was upon him, lowering her lips onto his own. He had never really kissed before. Once when Ilia and he had been five they had pecked each other with their mouths all stained with candy, but wasn't there a rule that anything before the age of ten didn't count? Besides, it was nothing like this, all hot and smooth. He found himself moving in time to her, as though he had known this rhythm all his life. And though the warning still whirred in his head, he had lost his mind completely. All that existed was her lips, her strange, hard warmth, and the soft murmurs of his name. Now should be the time that he told her everything: about how much he thought of her, of how he missed her, of how he wanted to change the laws that said beings of light and beings of twilight could never mingle; he wanted to tell her he-

A keening, heavenly sound snapped him back to awareness. Bleary as though he had just woken from a nap, he focused on it, trying to ignore the long leg moving up between his knees. He pulled away from her with a gasp.

"What's that sound?"

Midna pulled back and blinked, confused and annoyed. "Huh?"

But he listened harder. The noise was musical in nature and so mournful it was heartbreaking. In that short moment of simply hearing the sound, he felt his body begin to cool and his mind clear-and his chest fill with dismay. He recognized that voice.

Luna. Luna was singing.

And she was in pain. No. Agony.

Without thinking he shoved Midna away and scrambled off the bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Where is she, Midna, where is she!?"

"Wha…" then her eyes widened as she heard it too: the mournful singing, more beautiful than any sound on mortal earth. The pain of it screamed in his ears, spiking him with panic. He ran about the room, searching for the door, hands to his hair. All he could find was smooth, slate walls and the single window looking out on black and ocher twilight.

"Where is she? Din damn it, _where is she?_"

"Calm down, it's nothing—"

"_Nothing?!_" he reeled on her, the past few minutes forgotten. "What's going on? Tell me now, Midna! I know something is up _and don't you dare come near until you answer me!_" he said as she made to come towards him, arms outstretched. With Luna's song ringing in his ears, he didn't have the time to be brainwashed by her again. Even as he stood, heaving with panic and anger, her face changed. The elegance crumpled into a mask of rage unlike the Midna he knew. He felt his legs tremble.

"W-who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Midna, stupid, I'm not some imposter. What I should be asking is why you're all up and worried about her when you were with me a few minutes ago."

Inwardly, he groaned. He told himself he wouldn't get drawn into any woman sweepstakes. So much for his dream of simplicity in any possible relationship.

"This has nothing to do with that right now," he said, wishing dearly that he had his tunic, or at least a shirt. "She's in pain, I've got to help her. I came out here to save her."

"Save her?" Midna scowled, her expression growing darker and uglier. "How well do you know this girl you've named 'Luna'? Do you even know what you are saving?"

The singing had begun to wane. He looked about frantically.

"Whatever, now where's the door already? We can talk about this later! Please!"

The moment he said those words, he somehow knew they had been the wrong things to say. Her face turned absolutely livid. The very air of the room seemed to darken and he thought he could make out the faint outlines of shapes bouncing about her. Out of nowhere a black cloak appeared to re-adorn her tall form.

What he wouldn't give for a sword right now, though deep in his heart he knew he could never use it against her. It would just humor him.

Then, quite unexpectantly, the song of Luna died off and with it Midna's dark aura and expression. She appeared as normal as ever before him, as though he had not said anything offensive or obtuse.

Another tickle in the back of his mind told him this was important.

"Very well," she said, "I guess it's only fair that I comfort your conscience. Shall we?"

She waved her hand and green lines, bright as the gold outside, outlined a doorway. He strode through it and down the stairs, impatient to get to her. Midna followed at an aggravatingly slow pace and the dark staircase was unnervingly silent. He wondered dimly where the guards could be.

Whenever he looked over his shoulder, Midna's expression was as impassive as ever.

He gave a grunt of aggravation as he waited at the bottom the staircase. "You always nagged me to hurry up and here you are moving like a snail."

"I already told you there's nothing to worry about." Her eyes sparked. "If I were you, I'd just forget about her. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I usually don't." he said. "It's part of the job description, now mush!"

Anger flashed briefly across her face, but she continued, stretching out those long legs of her to cover more ground. She led him down grand, tall twilian hallways, all made of black slate lined with neon colors and shaded with the sky blue light of the sols. Twili ambling through various duties stared at him as he passed, making him wish all the more for a shirt of some kind. This was getting embarrassing. Soon, however, the Twili stopped appearing overall and it became darker and darker. He shivered involuntarily, even though it was not cold.

At long last, they turned a soot black corner and Midna stopped. Before her stood a wide wall of silver bars. She watched him, her expression unnaturally cold.

He stopped dead, eyeing her. Something was very wrong. His skin where her hands touched moments ago tingled.

"There." she snapped. "There's your precious little moon."

It only took him a few steps.

She hung by silver chains, glowing as she had before in the twilight. Her wings hung down limply, splaying feathers across the floor like a tattered skirt. The night gown had been torn at her knees and hung limply over her shoulders. Her hair hung down in front of her like a banner, hiding her face and still dirty with sand. He whispered her name, bewildered and horrified when she looked up between her hair and he saw blood pouring down her chin. Blue eyes flickered at him, red and puffy with tears, then turned sharply to Midna.

At that, she flung her head back and started to sing.

Up close, in front of her, the music shook him to his deepest core. It wasn't just stunning, it was intimate, singing to the very chords of his being: memories, feelings, desires, fears, hates, loves and passions. He couldn't breathe, so gripped was his soul. In the sound he felt he could be better, do more, know more, and that he was greater than he thought. So much greater.

Midna, however, began screaming and clamped her hands over her ears.

"Will you shut up! Idiot, you're just going to suffocate yourself!"

Sure enough, even as he stared at her he could see new streams of blood trickling from the corners of her mouth. Fear as he had never known welled up inside him. She was going to kill herself.

"Luna! Stop!" he cried.

But she kept on singing, her limbs pulling on the chains and her feathers trembling. Tears poured down her cheeks to mingle with the blood now staining the mangled nightgown.

His eyes burned. Her music, so beautiful, was so terrible.

"Please, Luna, stop!"

"She won't listen to you." said Midna through the sound. "I think she's finally remembered what she's done and grieves for how stupid she's been. She's probably trying to kill herself, frankly. The moon spirit's voice has very potent properties, but her mortal body can't withstand her immortal powers."

A realization like ice slipped through him, numbing him. He dared to look at her, and sure enough, in the face of Luna's song her face had once more contorted to something ugly, something enraged, something…wrong.

"How do you know who she is?" his voice was steady, heavy.

Slowly, Midna turned to him, a smile upturning the corners of her mouth. The faint, shadowy outlines began to bounce about her again, like dancers to some strange tribal ritual.

The Fused Shadows.

"Because," she said, "I was the one who made the deal with her."

"What deal?"

"Why, the deal that would give her the mortality she so desired and the immortality and power that I desired as well."


	10. Who Bathes in Moonfall

Chapter 10: Who Bathes in Moonfall

With a loud choke, Luna stopped her singing to gag on her own blood. It splattered down her front and onto the floor with each cough. He cringed, longing to rip the bars apart to get to her, but kept his focus on the dark princess standing before him. With the music gone, Midna's appearance turned to normal and the shapes of the remaining Fused Shadows vanished. She stood gorgeous and regal before him once more.

He could almost believe she was the Midna he knew, and nothing was wrong.

In the harsh quiet filled with Luna's ragged breathing, he spoke.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing has happened to me, Link."

"Something has. Why have you done such a thing to her?"

"You make it sound like I cursed her. No. I gave her what she wanted. It's not my fault that she's finding adapting to mortality a bit harsh. Besides, it was just too terribly convenient. I wanted the key to combining the worlds, and here comes along the guardian of the very barrier that keeps them apart, pining to be a _normal human being._"

"Then why didn't you just give her that?" he said in disbelief. "And besides that, I didn't know that Fused Shadows even had the power to do that."

She scowled faintly. "They don't. But I gave those back to the light spirits, remember?"

"No." he said. "I don't. And you're a liar."

A sour pause fell in between them, filled with Luna's awful gagging.

Midna wasn't smiling. Her eyes watched him with grim seriousness. Finally, she sighed.

"Okay. What do you want now, hero?" she asked dryly.

"I want you to let her go—_now._"

"No."

"And why not? What has she ever done to you?"

"Well, for starters, she's the liar your nasty finger is looking to point for. She went back on our deal and I'm not letting her out until she decides to be honest. It's not my fault she's set on singing herself to death."

Luna coughed out what sounded like a half born word before choking into silence. Each of her frayed breaths rattled his nerves.

"What? Are you not immortal enough?" he asked. He glanced about for a key, though he knew better. She wouldn't just leave the keys hanging around.

"Stop it with that tone, I'm getting tired of it. If anyone isn't acting like themselves it's you. If you must know part of the deal we made was that when I took up her immortality, I would take up her powers as well and her position watching over the border. She, however," at this, her eyes narrowed at the dangling girl, "has kept a good deal of them to herself, and even now I feel her draining more of her powers back from me, though there's no way she can get her immortality back, so I don't know what use it will do her in that mortal form. I think it's cheap. Especially since her stupid brother is now after my hide."

This caught him a bit off guard. "Her brother?"

"The sun, genius. You don't think he's protective for nothing, do you? That little brother of hers practically worships her. He doesn't care that we made a deal, he's still on my case for bringing her down to the level _she_ chose."

Taking in Luna's bloody, gasping state, Link couldn't blame him. If Ilia had been in Luna's place, he might have done the same, whether it had been Ilia's choice or not.

Luna met his gaze through her hair once more. The stone on her head throbbed a dull blue beneath her bangs. He could once more see the innocence he had been so sure of lined into the her skin and turned back on Midna.

"I don't blame her for taking back her powers. From what I've been seeing lately, you've been doing a crappy job keeping twilight on your side of the line."

Midna folded her arms, eyebrows lowering. "Who said I wanted to upkeep the border?"

"Oh yes. You wanted, what was it, the 'key to combining the worlds'? Yeah, newsflash, has it ever occurred to you that the worlds are suppose to be separate? Why do you even want them combined?"

A wry smirk broke across her face. "You weren't too averse to the idea a few minutes ago, if I recall. Let's say my reasons are similar to yours, somewhat."

He stiffened. "You weren't being yourself, Midna. You still aren't."

"Oh, I assure you, this is me. And yes. I do know what I'm doing."

Luna made a broken keening noise, as though attempting to restart her song, but suffocated on her tattered throat once more. Link shifted restlessly. What could he do? He had to get her out of here, away from the obviously deranged Midna. But even as he thought this, he began to doubt himself. She was right. Hadn't he often thought at times of what he wouldn't give just to have the world of light and twilight as one to be with her? And what _was_ so bad about the dimensions being combined?

As though in answer, memories flashed through his mind of the Fused Shadows and the shattered pieces of the Mirror of Twilight. Everything they had touched had been corrupted, twisted, and turned to monsters. There had to be an important reason the goddesses kept the two apart.

And then it dawned on him. The Fused Shadows, dancing about her enraged face as Luna sang…could Luna's singing reveal the true nature of people? Yes, this had to be Midna, for he remembered the vision the light spirit Lanyru had showed him over a year ago. The darkness, the lone shinning green hill, and the glazed, blood thirsty gaze of Ilia. It had chilled him to his marrow. The echoing waves of the warning still affected him to this day. _O hero, chosen by the goddesses…beware...Those who do not know the danger of wielding power will, before too long, be ruled by it. Never forget that…_

And he hadn't.

Was it possible that Midna hadn't known? Knowing her cockiness, he figured she had thought herself entitled to the power of her ancestors and hadn't given the pieces of the Shadows back to the light spirits at all, as she probably should have. Thinking this, however, did not make him feel like he understood completely. Something was still missing.

He took a step towards her, doing his best to keep his voice level when he wanted to scream at her for her stupidity. It had only been a year! How could she have fallen so far in such a short time? Were the Fused Shadows really that powerful?

"There's more, isn't there? Luna isn't enough to combine polar opposites. You want light and dark, not the land of light stolen of its life."

She shifted, jutting out her hip and draping her hand over it. "Ah, how observant. Yes, my little beastie. Your Luna and her hot-headed brother are two sides of the same coin, much as my beloved twilight is to your world of light. By taking her place and stepping aside, even with the limited power she has given me, a world where only Twili and spirits can dwell is beginning to take place. I wanted the banished and the beloved to live together, right the injustice the so called 'goddesses' established in creating this world. Unfortunately, they have the power to deem it otherwise," she started stepping towards him, that smile still playing on her face, "but that's where you come in."

He started. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I don't see how I can change the goddesses' will."

"Then how about you take a look at your right hand? Or left, whichever one has that funny Triforce mark."

He didn't move. "What about it?"

"Ever heard of the Sacred Realm?"

At that, he already had an idea of where this was going along with a tightening sense of foreboding. She couldn't be serious.

"There's a reason my ancestors wanted the Sacred Realm so badly," she said, sauntering about him, tracing her hands on his shoulders. "And it has to do with the little mark on your hand. Do you know why the Sacred Realm is so important?"

"It is where the goddesses descended. Everyone knows that. It holds a concentration of their power and the land reflects that."

"And the concentration of that power is the Triforce."

"I'm not stupid, Midna, I know what you're aiming for. You want to get the wish granted by the Triforce and make the world exactly how you want it."

"Except for one thing: the Triforce hasn't been whole for hundreds of years, and if it's not whole, it doesn't work. But guess who has a piece…?"

Her sing-song voice whispered across his long ear, and he shivered. He had always wondered what that mark meant besides a marker for the gods.

"No." he said.

Her fingers twitched on his shoulder. "No?"

"I won't, whatever you're asking. You're not well. It's those Fused Shadows you have bouncing around in your pocket. Until you get rid of them and come to your senses, I'm not helping you with anything."

A gentle hiss, almost nonexistent. "You're the one not being reasonable. Don't you want to be with me? I know you do. I felt it in your kiss."

Chains tinkled as Luna flinched. Link felt his stomach pinch painfully, along with a rush of confusion. _No, Luna, that's not…_that wasn't what? Not true? Because it was.

"No." he brushed her hand off his shoulder and stepped away. "Besides, you're out of luck with the third piece. I killed Ganondorf, remember?"

Her smile twisted, shadowing the dark, bitter face revealed by Luna's song. It wasn't a smile. It was a grimace.

"I didn't want to do this. But I hope it will help you change your mind, because I really do want to be with you." she said.

Green lines crackled across the walls, shaping out the forms of broad shouldered Twili. Their eyes came aglow and they stepped out from the walls, inky hands stretching out for him. He pivoted on the spot and made a beeline for the stairwell, having half expected something like this already. What he wouldn't do to have his sword back with him. Any more stupid points after this and he'd be dead.

He didn't get far. Twili had stepped out onto the stairs as well, blocking his way. He cried out as their hands clamped about him in a vice-like grip and their faces drew in close. All he could see was black limbs, black walls, and black stares. Midna smiled down at him as she followed them up the stairs. He could feel each step digging into the back of his legs as he kicked and yelled.

"I really do hope you reconsider, sweetheart. In the meantime, we will be spending lots of time together, won't we Luna?"

He couldn't see her, but he could feel her blue eyes trailing after them past the stone walls. She did not attempt to sing again.

#$%$%&^%&%#$ #$%$&%^$%!#$$^%^&**

Midna decided to store him away in her bedroom as she went about the rest of her day, with the door sealed away and hidden from his view. Out the solitary window he discovered the room was set high up in a tower of sorts, and the nearest roof was a leap he could have probably made if he was a wolf, but as a human…yeah, no. For the first hour he searched the room for possible ways out—a nick, and hidden passage, anything. He even tried tying the sheets together into a makeshift rope, but found the material made of something slippery, like satin, and as soon as he had it in a knot it would slip out. The only thing he found of any remote help was a very narrow ledge lining the sides of the tower, but seeing it was only a good three inches wide it was only a suicide waiting to happen.

Three hours later he was sitting on the floor and leaning against the foot of the bed, bored out of his gourd, hungrier than ever, and far from at ease. His head felt weightless with it.

How could this have happened? How could Midna have let this happen to her? She was smarter than that—she had always been smarter than that. They had finally gotten back together only to have her deranged and a moon spirit hankering after him. When had he signed up for this? Oh yeah, never! But now what? He couldn't just take the Fused Shadows from her. They were as insubstantial as they were not, and if that wasn't confusing, what about his own feelings about all this?

Because it was true. He did want to be with her. And secretly he too had dreamed of a world where they could coexist—where he could be a wolf and a man at once, where he could be free and have order, where light and darkness lived side by side. Yes, the goddesses hadn't made it that way for a reason…but would it really be all that bad to get a hold of the Triforce and remake the world as they wished?

But could he even trust the new corrupted Midna? For Luna's song had revealed something about her, and whether true or not, it still said something. There was a passionate fury that had always been a part of Midna that had been amplified by the Shadows. Perhaps she had been wondering the same thing as him: why were the not-so necessarily evil still punished for the sins of their fathers? Why were they still banished to the Twilight when she had found so much to love in the light? But she couldn't just leave her home, which despite its obtuseness to the world of light still appeared beautiful and wonderful to her.

In the end, the question that itched him the most was: what if he agreed to help Midna? What would happen? And what would the consequences be?

From beneath all this, another thought lurked, just as muddling as the others.

What of Luna?

Growing stiff, he stood, stretched his legs and flipped his hands in hopes to shake off the knot in his gut. What would happen to Luna as a result of all this? Was Luna's bad choice to be with him really what started this all? Not just Midna's revolution against the goddesses? And what of that sense of confusion down in the basement when she had heard of his and Midna's kiss? Why did he still, even now, wish to run down there not just to rescue her from her silver bounds and bloody lips, but to hold her tightly in his arms? He couldn't stop thinking of the tender forgiveness in her eyes, given so willingly. Somehow, he knew, he could make as many mistakes as he wanted too, be as weak as he needed to be, be as depressed and hopeless as ever, and she would still look at him like that, like she…like she…

It made him want to hold her tight. The want to protect her overwhelmed him to the point he felt himself growing mad in the confines of Midna's room. For Luna, with her innocence and unbelievable ability to love unconditionally, demanded protection.

And remembering her ragged, dirty form dangling from the chains, with blood dripping down her front—

A tearing noise brought him out of his thoughts. He stared at the curtain in his hand. He hadn't even noticed his hand tightening. Sighing, he threw the cloth down with vigor. This was all stupid. Just completely and utterly stupid. Why hadn't he just been glad to be back home, in the peace and quiet? Maybe he jinxed himself with all that stupid moping about he did. He had been stupid. So stupid. Nothing was wrong with peace. But no, he had to go wishing to be a wolf, he had to go drawing stupid daydreams of Midna, had to somehow catch the attention of the moon…the moon…

He looked out the window to the thin ledge once more. It was suicide, but, well, he had done some pretty suicidal things in the past. Maybe—but no, he wasn't even sure where the ledge led to. It would be better if he just waited for Midna to return, and then while the door is open he could slip past. But even as he thought it he snorted. Midna, with the powers of an immortal guardian along with the Fused Shadows against him, weaponless, shirtless, shoeless—yeah, that wouldn't happen. He might as well jump out the window then and there than try to out-power or outwit Midna.

And he still wasn't entirely sure what he was to do. Before, the goal had been so obvious: banish twilight, restore the light to the spirits, rescue his friends, and stop a madman from plunging the land into darkness. But wasn't that essentially what Midna was trying to do? No, it was completely different. She just wanted her people and his to live side by side. She just wanted darkness and light to be the same, not light obliterated completely. But wouldn't that mean there would be neither light or darkness? And was that bad? Was it bad to not have darkness or light, but something in between and neither?

But Luna…always Luna, for no matter what happened she was getting the short end of the stick. No border, no guardian, and Midna was not going to be merciful to the winged girl anytime soon. And her treatment of the girl should speak enough to him of how much she had changed.

_It's not my fault she's set on singing herself to death._

Surely Midna knew Luna. Anyone who knew her even in the smallest amounts would never wish to leave her in the pathetic state she was in now. No one would want to leave any living being in that state. And yet, still, it was so unclear…

Then, called forth by his distress, Luna's voice rose up from his memories like the dark flakes of the world. It sent chills up his spine, bleeding warmth back into his cold limbs. He hadn't realized he had turned so cold. Was Twilight always this strange form of chill? Not cold enough for you to notice, but cold enough to make you forget about warmth? Before he could dread her will to sing her mortal throat to shreds, he felt his heart skip a beat and lift in his chest. His mind cleared. His uneasiness vanished. In a short-lived flash of revelation, he saw what he must do. He knew what was right. As soon as her voice faded away his confusion returned, but the memory of its warmth still hummed along his veins.

His brain couldn't tell him what to do. His heart wasn't any help. But his gut told him to step outside the window and reach for the ledge.

So it was with a hundred feet of space dangling below him that he found himself, clinging to a skinny ledge by his fingertips. Not to mention he still didn't have a shirt, which he wished for furiously as he noticed his own pale skin shinning out like a beacon in the fading gold light of twilight. All someone had to do was look up and they'd see him. Oh, and he was still starving.

Not to mention that very long drop below him…

He moved quickly, shifting himself around the tower by his hands. If he gave himself too much time to think, his mind would catch up with him and make his hands sweat, which he could not afford at this point. Why did these towers have to be so bloody square?

_Hang on, Luna,_ he thought, biting his lip in concentration, _I'm coming._

**Author's Note: No, I don't hate Midna. I actually really like her. I'm sorry for making her a villain, but it was either pull a random witch out of my butt or just make Midna corrupted by the Fused Shadows—because I realized that Lanyru makes a lot of hype in the vision to Link about how corrupting and evil the Fused Shadows are, just for nothing to happen. It's never mentioned again in the game, even though it is played up to be an important part. And no, I haven't forgotten about Zelda or Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit. Patience. **

**Thank you for all the reviews. **** I really appreciate them. Thank you for all the favorites too. It makes me fuzzy inside. Please, keep them coming! I love hearing what you think. And as always, I update at LEAST once a week, because I hate waiting for stories and I figured that you do too.**

**Oh, and sidenote: I hate love triangles. **


	11. Saved by a Fallen Star

**Author's Note: I have had a revelation. I can write whatever I want! You're probably confused as to why it took me so long to figure that out, but if you had the artsy fartsy English classes I had to take, you'd understand. Of course, concerning these stories I am telling to you, this is the true me writing, not the artsy fartsy me writing. **

**Oh, and I wish to hear back from you on one thing: Midna or Luna? :3 though, by chapter 12, you may have changed your mind. **

**Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! Please, let me know what you think. As always, these are all extreme rough drafts, so please excuse little typos...though I may mess with you with saying surly instead of surely...just for old times sake. **

Chapter 11: Saved by a Fallen Star

It didn't take long at all for him to change his mind about this being a courageous idea.

_Ten stupid points for me,_ he thought, _Ten _billion_ stupid points for me. _

He was so dead. For at that very moment his hands had cramped up, refusing to move, and his fingers, coated with a nice skin of sweat, were slipping as each thought passed through his mind. He had reached the other end of the ledge, all right.

There was nothing but another slate wall.

Maybe, if he had been smarter he would have thought to bring his hook shot along and hooked around the weird, flat battlements of the next roof. Heck, if he had been smarter he wouldn't be out here at all. Stupid points, remember? Ten billion of them.

"Ah, Din," he breathed, beads of sweat tickling his face. "Farore, Nayru, whoever's up there, aw gods, I'm so sorry for being stupid. I try to be heroic, and this is-"

He never finished that sentence. The last centimeter of his fingertips had just run out.

All his organs rushed up to his throat, as though frantic to grab onto the ledge and not fall with the rest of him. His mouth opened for a scream, his thoughts went into a white blaze—

And then a hand like a spider, black and slender, caught him on one of his arms. For what felt like forever he hung there, fighting to remember how to breathe, staring down at the bottom of the long fall where a mental image of him lay splattered like a fallen peach. Guts spilled, brains exploded, bones broken, and very, very dead.

The black hand tugged him past the ledge and onto the tower roof. The moment his feet touched the roof tiles, before he even had a good look at his savior, he let out a long stream of curses. Profanities up and down the alphabet, sprinkled with words not even he had ever dared to utter previously.

His dark savior said not a word, watching through its large, flat, metal mask. Link only stopped when he heard it rattle. Tendrils of thick, tentacle like hair wavered about it in the barest of breezes. It crouched before him on all fours, larger than him, but not as tall as the monster Twili that had stolen Luna had been. For a long, terrifying minute, they stared each other. The hero wondered if he had just jumped from the frying pan and into the fire.

He gulped.

"Uh…thanks?"

The lanky Twili, all joints and limbs, cocked its mask to the side, but otherwise made no move to attack him. He took this as a good sign.

"Um…well…can I help you?" he said. He couldn't even be sure this creature could understand what he was saying. And why had it plucked him from his fall? Why hadn't it attacked him yet? He stood before it as defenseless as any man could be with only his pants on.

Maybe it was the supposedly missing guard set to watch over him. New sweat bubbled out all over him at this thought. But as the Twili continued to not make a move, he figured he might as well explain himself.

"I came out here to try and get Lu—that white winged girl out. She's not doing too well. It was a stupid idea to go out on the ledge, really…" he searched the cocked mask for some clue to the Twili's thoughts. "Do you think you could help me? She's hurt."

Listen to him. He sounded like a child. Besides, the Twili couldn't help him. It was corrupted, cursed to lose its will to some greater puppeteer; thoughtless and stupid.

And then the Twili turned, moved its hand over its shoulder in an unmistakable gesture to follow, and leapt off the top off the tower onto the roof just below.

Link's jaw fell open. He didn't waste time in wonder, but quickly gave chase, for the Twili's limbs were far longer than his own. The roofs of the palace were blessedly flat.

"Who are you?" he asked, "Can you really understand me?"

The Twili just continued on to the far side of the roof, where it grasped onto the battlements with its spidery hands and waited for him to catch up. Link did a quick job of scrambling after it, but no sooner was he within reach of the monster than it fell back into motion across the battlements and down to another roof. He chased after it, both confused and hopeful. Across the great palace and into the unknown they ran, one a camouflage of black, the other one a pale beckon against the dark clouds of twilight.

At last, panting and muscles burning, Link scrambled up another roof to find, not a Twili, but an open window, with satin-like curtains fluttering out of it. He glanced around for his guide before scrambling up into this as well and dropping down into the darkness.

The fall lasted just long enough to make him panic, but he hit the floor and rolled forward unharmed. Something akin to grass and dust stuck to his sweaty skin, making him itch. At first all he could see was darkness. Then a bit of faint, ocher light from outside broke through, and what he saw brought both bile and a scream to his throat.

Corrupt Twili—all masked, big, rattling like a rock slide, lined with red, and with their clawed hands scraping against the floor towards him.

He scrambled to his feet and looked up, but the window was far too high to jump.

_Following a monster. Wow, those stupid points just keep coming. _

The Twili crowded about him as he trembled on his feet. Their fingers reached forward, wide plate masks chinking against one another.

"Ahhh—ahhhh…" he begun, trying to give a proper scream but his diaphragm kept sticking to the roof of his lungs. "Ahhh—ahhh!"

But then they stopped. For a horrible second the two parties stared at each other. Link, with his mouth open in a half-born scream, and the Twili with their upraised claws.

Then one touched him. Tapped him really, and chattered something in what could have been words. Link's eyes widened. The Twili twittered once more and tapped his shoulder. It was highly unusual. Twili claws were meant for tearing apart people, not tapping them.

As it became more apparent that the Twili had no intentions to hurt him—yet—Link closed his mouth.

"W-what was that?" he asked.

When the Twili twittered to him once more without him understanding, all the masked creatures looked at each other, as though to exchange expression, as much as you could do, that is, when your face was a metal disc. Slowly, they backed away, chattering to each other excitedly. Then, before his eyes, one Twili reached up to its mask and lifted it off to reveal a normal—well, normal for Twili—face. It blinked its round, doleful eyes at him and smacked its nonexistent lips. One by one the other Twili did the same, taking off their masks to show him their faces. As they did so, the red lights on their skin died down to the usual turquoise glow.

He didn't gape. Though he did plenty of staring. So…the Twili weren't corrupt? But…did that mean they were working for Midna all along? He wouldn't have been surprised, she was confusingly tricky like that (though why she would have bothered being tricky fooling him or anyone else made no sense either). But then wouldn't they have grabbed him by now and thrown him back into his 'cage'? Where was he anyways? Taking a quick glance around, all he saw was an empty tower room with only the one window way up high and filled with some sort of grayish hay. There were about seven Twili, and seeing it wasn't a very big room in the first place, needless to say it was very crowded.

"Uh…"

But before he could come with a more intelligent thing to say to all this, a voice broke out across the chit-chat of the Twili's strange language, low and morose.

"Are you the mortal, Link?"

"Who wants to know?" he retorted automatically.

Like a black sea, the Twili parted, allowing a silvery-blue man to step forward. He wore a long, grey shift down to his feet and his hair reached down to his knees, straight as falling rain. But what struck Link first were his eyes set under his heavy, brooding eyebrows: large, squarish, and with pure white irises. The pupil was an almost imperceptible navy dot in the middle.

And he was tall. Link didn't realize just how tall until the man was standing next to him with a foot or two to spare above him.

The white eyes pierced through him like the terror of his fall only minutes before.

"Are you Link?"

"Yes." he croaked.

The frightening eyes narrowed.

"You will return the moon spirit you took from my companions, mortal Link. You will return her and I will not kill you."

Round Twili faces fell silent and watched them avidly. Link did his best to keep his expression cool, though inside an alarm started ringing.

"What do you want with her?" he asked calmly.

"Her brother sent me to earth the moment she fell to fetch her. You have been defying me at every turn and I have run out of patience. I have only kept you alive this far so you could tell me where she is." The white eyes shone like ice. "I care not if you are the chosen hero of the gods."

A wave of relief washed over him. "You were sent by the sun spirit?" Sure, the guy was a jerk that wanted him as bacon, but it was just what he needed.

"Yes."

"That's great! You're just in time, she's down somewhere in these dungeons. If you can get me back to the staircase out of the Queen's bedroom, I can take you right there."

His instant compliance threw the tall man completely off, and he even took a step back in surprise. The Twili began to chatter to each other, only growing louder when Link smiled.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. If I had known you were only trying to help her, I wouldn't have attacked you. It's just I have a bad history with clawed Twili wearing masks to begin with, so I moved out of principle. Deepest apologies. I'm guessing you want to take her home, right? Back up into the sky?"

The man blinked a few times, but he did not return Link's smile. Instead, he folded his naked arms against the square sheet of his shift with a grim, straight lip grimace.

"I…yes. Or attempt to, at least."

"Hate to be rude, but what's with all these Twili? I mean, Midna is their queen, wouldn't this be…?"

"These are but kind folk who wished to help a suffering soul. They also wish to preserve the old ways and feel that there is something…amiss, of late, about their queen. They wear their battle masks to show they are separated and strong."

Link turned his grin to the Twili and bowed. They shut up and stared.

"Thank you—for saving my life that is."

One of the Twili blinked. He guessed it was the one who had led him here, though he couldn't quite tell the difference between them all.

"Are you sure you can lead us to where her exact location is?" said the man. "These walls can change and shift according to the queen's will. There is a reason none of us could find her."

Link opened his mouth, paused, then wilted.

"Well, when you put it that way—wait, why did you ask me to give her back to you then? Why didn't you just ask Midna?"

He gave Link a dead-panned look, and for a moment he wondered if he should feel stupid.

"Seeing that we directly oppose all the queen's wishes, we can't very well ask her to lead us to her high security prisoner, and, well, you are in the best position to ask if there was anyone, seeing you are her lover—"

The temperature in the room skyrocketed, but he did his best to keep his face calm. He was a man, wasn't he? Men don't blush like school girls whenever someone says anything related to love. He was allowed to have lovers and, well, he did have feelings for her, though now she was an evil sorceress trying to take over the world and…yeah…

"Not entirely," he said, "it's complicated. But I see your point. I could probably talk to her. I don't know what good it will do, lying to her has never really worked for me."

"Then don't lie to her." said the man unblinkingly. "Have her lead you to the moon again, and we shall follow."

Link couldn't help but frown. "And…how are you going to do that? No offense, but you stand out here about as much as I do."

"Do not worry. Do your part to lead, and I will follow."

"If you say so. Oh, what—I mean, who are you anyways?"

"My name is Jasmeen." a bitter smirk broke across his face. "And I am a fallen star."

! #$#^&%&*(&(^%$# !#&^%$# !#$%^&*

One of the larger Twili escorted him (that means carried him in a very un-masculine fashion), back to Midna's room, where he made himself at home to wait. He wasn't entirely sure how the star would be able to know when Midna came let alone where he'd be in the castle without being next to him, but he had guessed it had something to do with those strange, white eyes of his.

He didn't have long to wait. Before he knew it, the emerald lines traced out the door and Midna stepped through, cape billowing, and bright orange eyes bright.

"So," she said. "Have you had enough time to think?"

Link looked to the side, trying to ignore the sudden squirming in his gut. He suddenly remembered how she had pushed him down and kissed him on her bed.

"Yes."

"Ah, I presume you see reason then?"

He paused. How was he suppose to not lie to her? It wasn't that he entirely sucked a lying. Midna just read him like a book.

"There's still one last thing I'd like to do before I…before I agree to work with you." he said carefully, and as precaution he added, quite truthfully, "Because you are right. I…I have often dreamt of the same thing. Of the worlds combined. Of being with you."

Din, it made him feel weird to say that.

Midna was smiling, pleased.

"What is it?"

"I'd…I'd like to see Luna. Just one last time. I want to know why she thought coming down to me would change the way I feel."

Again, another mix of truth. At the same time, a small part of him twanged at the last statement to wonder if Luna had already changed the way he felt. He was, after all, going out of his way to save her. If she hadn't been there, and it had just been him and Midna…but even that made him feel strange and uncomfortable. To distract himself from this, he took to watching Midna's expression. She seemed a bit less happy at this.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I feel responsible, okay? I'm not a ass, and she did come down for me. I need to see if there's any way I can convince her to give in so she can live and move on with her life. Maybe go back up to her brother, where she can be happy."

Midna did not mention the obvious fact that if the border between worlds was dispelled, the guardians would be dispelled as well. He didn't either. She did shrug, however, giving in surprisingly easy.

"Fine. But I must warn you, she isn't a pretty sight. I think she tried to fight out with her wings because there's feathers everywhere—sticking all over her too, ugh, like a freshly killed chicken. It's quite disgusting."

He cringed, but she had already turned around and did not see this.

"Come on."

Link hesitated. That had been far too easy. He got to his feet, however, and followed.

All along the way he was on edge, waiting for Midna to turn around and catch him in the act, or to at least question him more. She went on oddly silent, though, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to smile at him. Passing through a familiar great hall, this time devoid of other Twili, she fell alongside him.

"Have I ever told you my greatest regret?" she said softly, almost conspiratorially.

He raised an eyebrow. "Not keeping a better eye on Zant?"

"No, but close." and he felt her cold, firm hand weaving into his own. "Breaking the mirror of twilight. All I can remember is feeling horribly guilty for all the trouble I caused you and Zelda and wanting to keep you all safe. Now, I really don't know what I was thinking. If I had kept it open it would've made this whole transition easier." she drew up close, lowering her lashes bashfully, though Link knew better. Midna could barely be coy. Ashamed, yes, but not bashful. "Did you miss me?"

Again, the weird squirmy feeling, as though he had swallowed worms. Yes, but…well yes, of course. Of course.

Shivering, he drew a bit closer to her as well.

"Yes." he whispered.

She let out a content sigh. "I had hoped so."

"How could you have not?"

"There's always doubts. Doesn't matter how beautiful you are or how secure you are in the answer. Even when it is known it is good to always be reminded."

"Well," he leaned in to draw closer to her, though his shivering shook him to the core, making it all feel somehow wrong. "I'm reminding you. Though I think it is silly that you ever doubted how I valued you."

"I was hoping more than value, though. Something more than the imp screaming orders at you." And suddenly the fake-coy lashes lifted and he was caught in the orange gaze. Her lips had drawn close and he could smell her breath, exotic and musky. "Is there more?"

"Yes." he said, intoxicated by the smell.

"Say that you love me, Link."

"…I love you."

"Then forget about your Luna. Forget about the moon and let her wane."

He had just moved in to kiss her, but stopped at this. Luna. Luna, white, innocent, looking up at him with forgiving eyes, hands outspread to give him his lost, green hat. Luna, weeping in a spring with her hands clutched tightly to her chest. Luna, her wings outspread, tottering outside his window with her face pleading to be let in, so sorry…so very sorry. Luna, the name he had given her.

With just a tingle to show where their lips had brushed, he pulled back and looked at her. She looked back, expression holding more than he ever wanted to know, and so much of what he always wanted to know. Somewhere, above him, a star watched with piercing white eyes. But far deeper than that was a jagged sorrow being birthed in his chest.

"Why did you stop?"

Link said nothing. What was there to say? He didn't even know what to say to himself.

And in a flash her face twisted. She stepped away, muscles snapped tight. The almond orange eyes scorched him more than the sun ever could, but he couldn't move to make it right.

Because, somehow, it wasn't.

"Bastard," she hissed, "Traitor. Two-timer. If you want to see your pathetic moon so badly, fine! Fine! Here she is!"

And suddenly his surroundings were ripped in twain. Slate shifted, ceiling shrunk, and the floor fell away, though he did not fall. The silver bars reappeared again, and behind them hung the ragged Luna, surrounded by feathers. They even stuck to her front where the blood had dribbled down and on her arms where blood had trickled as she tugged on the chains and cut her wrists. She did not look up at him.

But Midna was shrinking from him, hands clasped about her arms. Though the sight of Luna's mangled form knocked the breath from him, he reached out to her, fighting for the words to speak.

"Midna, please, it's not like that—"

"Then why can't you just forget about her? If you love me, why didn't you jump at the chance to be with me? Why side with her!?"

"Because look at her! You know me! When have I ever left someone in need to bleed and hang? When have _you_ ever? Din damn, don't you see what you've become?"

"But I'm in need!" she cried. "Don't you care about that? Don't you know what it's like to be so outcast—so alone?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. But that still doesn't make this right—"

She gave an angry cry. "Goddesses! Why do you have to be such a hero! Just talk to your stupid whore already, I—I'm still me. I haven't killed anyone." she took a deep breath and turned, still hugging herself. "I'll give you three minutes." she said bitterly. "Get your love talk over with."

"Midna—"

But she had already vanished into a dark portal. He let his hand drop to his side. He couldn't help but think that she had blown it all way out of proportion and gotten it all wrong, but a piece of him, the same piece that confused him and made him tremble, said he knew better, and whispered of something else.

Dark forms trickled down from the staircase. Carried with them came Jasmeen, face grim. Link noticed with some spite that the Twili managed to carry him in a dignified manner with all manliness preserved, unlike with him. He wondered why they didn't just form out of a portal like Midna.

The star strode past him to the bars. "Not gifted with much sense concerning the ladies, are you?"

"Oh, shut up." he snapped. "Just hurry and get her out. She could be back any moment."

He thought he heard one of the Twili make a noise incredibly like a snicker, but when he turned around he found them all busy at work stroking the walls to melt down the bars and the chains. Jasmeen stood at the ready to catch Luna when she flopped down lifelessly. He gently gathered her up into his arms, wings and all. It was then that Link noticed the abnormal long hump to his back. He had always stood in front of Jasmeen, never behind.

"Grab hold of a Twili," he said, "they can get us out of here. It was just getting into the room that was the problem, since the queen had it secured. But hold your breath. Don't want to breathe out your lungs into a portal. Unless you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by your woman's spite of you."

Link barely restrained himself from sending a right hook into his face.


	12. The Moon's Many Craters

**Author's note: Here's my Saturday posting early. I have a bellydancing performance about an hour out from here that will take a good portion of my day (yes, I bellydance in all my educated sophistication, believe it or not). And to you reviewers giving smart alike corrections of my grammar…I applaud you. **

**And so far I only have votes for Luna getting the man. It's making my husband very upset. If you are a Midna fan, please speak up, for his sake, because I have two endings in mind that are both brilliant and will make ALL of you bawl. And please, tell me how I'm doing so far! If you like the story, please, favorite it! :D It will help you and my husband get more readers to recruit for Midna—or Luna—or whatever. **

…**bellydancing bellydancing, jiggle jiggle shimmy…enjoy.**

Chapter 12: The Moon's Many Craters

Two minutes later, an alarm, like the call of warbling birds, screeched across the realms.

"That was quick." said Jasmeen flatly.

Link said nothing. Luna's head hung down off the star's arm and the stone on her forehead barely glowed at all. Her skin had faded to the point even Jasmeen and Link stood out more than her in the twilight. The tall man had taken the time at the edge of the island to clean the blood from her chin with the edge of his rectangular robe, but her lips were still dyed a stark scarlet. He wanted to say something about how badly she looked, how desperately she needed help. But all he could do was swallow past his iron tight throat. Every part of him ached, but not out of any physical exertion. His mind buzzed loudly with violent anxiety, stopping any thought or words from being strung together correctly. Luna, Midna, white wings, dark cape, suns and stars—nothing really made sense anymore. But when had it ever?

Besides all that, they could already make out the flying forms of monsters with Twili riders upon their backs. Jasmeen turned his attention to the masked Twili about him and bowed. The next thing Link couldn't make out, for Jasmeen spoke to them in their tinkling language. They bowed their heavy heads back to him.

"I hate to ask," he said, hearing his voice as though from a distance, "but how are we going to get out of here?"

In answer, Jasmeen waved awkwardly underneath Luna to the Twili and they immediately turned around to face the oncoming birds. He then turned to Link and held out Luna.

"Take her. Quickly, mortal."

Link accepted her. Her wings felt surprisingly fragile folded up in his arms. He shrugged her head onto his shoulder, sending waves of her sandy white hair down his chest and back. The star raised his hands.

The Twili behind them fell into a gallop.

"We will only have a few seconds." he said. "When I open the portal, move."

The hero nodded. With this Jasmeen lifted those long fingered hands above his head and clapped them. The sound of the clap came out sharp as thunder and a small, doorway sized hole appeared before them. On the other side he could see the western bridge over Lake Hylia.

He leapt forward. At the last moment he thought of Midna, still waiting behind him, probably aghast that he had vanished. Taking Luna must have been the last straw of betrayal for her.

And that made him hesitate.

But by the time he could turn around, before he could really even consider what mess he was leaving behind, the portal had disappeared and the deep blue of predawn sky twinkled down at him. The sound of the lake hushed around him ever so quietly. It smelt of dew.

Besides him, the star stood, tall and grim.

"I will take her now."

He didn't know what made him do it, but he took a step back from him, clutching Luna to his chest. A sickening ache within him couldn't let go to the softness. Not after what he gave up for it. And he couldn't leave her hurt, he couldn't leave her with her last memory of him being dragged up by Twili after hearing about his intimacy with Midna.

"No. We need to take her to the spring first to heal."

The skin around the star's petrifying eyes hardened, and his brow lowered.

"We can heal her just fine, mortal."

"What if she doesn't want to be go back with you to the sky."

"I'm not taking her back to the sky. She is too mortal now to do such. I am taking her where it is safe, and where we can work that out."

"Where?"

Jasmeen's lips pulled back to show his teeth—all perfectly white. "That is none of your business."

"Still, let her wake up. She…she did come to me, after all. I think she should decide on her own when she leaves. I don't think we should force her."

The star snorted. "Why do you care? You care not for this girl, let alone her feelings. If you had you would have released her ages ago."

"For the last time, I didn't have any choice in that matter! I tried! Just because Midna and I are…whatever we are—"

"I don't want to hear your sniveling excuses. You knew the girl's feelings for you, I presume. She has always been carelessly open and honest, and look how you have protected that vulnerability? She wouldn't have sung herself into this state if it hadn't been to save you in some way or form, and how do you repay her? Romancing another right in front of her."

Link took the abuse. Of course he was all too aware of what he had done. That was part of the reason he held to her so tightly, almost desperately, till he could feel a feather poking into his side. He had to make things right. He had to fix this. He had to fix _something._ Besides, whatever guilt or harm Jasmeen wished to dish out, he deserved it. It was he who had been foolish and careless, not Luna.

"I still am taking her to the spring." he said. "She's not doing too good. And…it's the least I can do." he couldn't meet those white eyes. "Please."

The silver-blue man considered him with a tight mouth and even tighter, angrier lines in the way his hands clenched and his shoulders hunched up. Finally, he gave a loud sigh.

"Very well. But once she awakens she is coming with me. That is final."

Link's hold on Luna didn't lessen. Nor did he lift his head.

"Thank you."

#$%^%$% ###^**^$# $%^&*((&^ $%&*

Princess Zelda caught sight of them from a long way off and met them at the mouth of the spring, dark circles already forming beneath her eyes. She only wore her dress slip and the overskirt and top. Anything elaborate still sat inside the cave.

"Thank the goddesses!" she said, nearly weeping with relief. "You're –" and then she took in Luna's state. "Is she…?"

"Yes. Just hurt." he said wearily. His hunger and fatigue were catching up with him. Still, he held to Luna.

Zelda's attention switched to the lanky man besides him, dressed in a shift that could have been mistaken for a sheet with its ends sewn together. For all he knew, that's what it was.

"And you are?"

"Jasmeen, dear lady. I presume you are the princess of this mortal realm?"

"Oh, yes. Though my state wouldn't suggest such. But it's been a rather long day, as you can understand."

"Of course."

Link had already walked past both of them into the spring, where he gingerly made his way down to the waters. Inside, a few magical lamps set high into the cave lit the spring, making the waters glisten in their darkness. He collapsed onto the shore, but tenderly lowered Luna into the spring. As before, the moment it touched her skin the water began to glow.

In the entrance, Zelda and Jasmeen kept talking.

"So, how do you and Link know each other?"

"We cooperated back in the twilight realm. We had…similar interests."

"I take it you helped save Luna, then?"

"Yes."

"Wow. It's only been a day and she's already been battered up twice."

Link winced at this and tucked his chin even lower. Ducking his head under the water and never coming back up was sounding more appealing by the minute.

Jasmeen took a second to respond.

"Yes. Indeed she has. Will you excuse me? I'm sure you've had a very tiring night and you deserve your sleep. Morning is already upon us."

"Oh, yes. Of course."

Link tensed, expecting the star to come down to berate him more, or worse, watch over his shoulder as he held Luna up in the water. When the soft footfalls of much smaller feet came instead, he let out his breath in a heavy whoosh.

Zelda put a hand on his bare shoulder and crouched down beside's him. He turned his head when she tried to meet his eye.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Not much." he said, keeping his voice low to disguise his tension. "Those masked Twili are actually good. They were just trying to take Luna home—in the wrong fashion, but whatever. Midna kidnapped us. Luna hurt herself trying to get out. I found Jasmeen. We escaped."

He could feel her fingers squeezing his shoulder, as though to reassure him of what she did not know.

"You and Jasmeen don't seem to like each other much."

"I have no problem with him."

"Then why does he have a problem with you?"

"He came to fetch Luna and isn't happy about the state she's in. There's nothing else."

"You saying that makes me know there's something else."

"Zelda," but he restrained his ire and took a deep breath. "I really, really don't want to talk about it, okay? I'm tired, I'm hungry, and…" but at that point his throat refused to work for him anymore.

But the princess didn't press anymore. Instead, she gave him an unexpected, but warm hug about his middle. Something in the way he could feel her arms shaking made him realize the unnecessary worry he had caused her. One more thing to fail in.

"It will work out, Link. Whatever it is. You don't have to tell me. I just worried about you. I'm glad you and Luna are safe."

He fought down the stone in his throat.

"I'm glad you're safe too," he said, not caring that his voice came out wavering. "I was worried about you too. I was worried about how I made you feel by yelling at you like that. I'm sorry. No, I wasn't being myself. I was stupid."

She gave a weak chuckle and pulled away. "Repenting and humbling ourselves, are we?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Are you as hungry as I am?"

"Oh, you have no idea."

"When Luna heals up, what do you say we go on a quick, what could I call it, a hunt for food before turning in? Maybe the twilight has moved from the castle already."

He sobered up quickly. Yes, he was starving and beyond exhausted. Every part of him begged him to just keel over onto the rocks then and there and sleep. Jasmeen would take Luna away from him the moment she was healed. He might as well go along with Zelda. It could be a comforting ending to this garish day and night. But…he didn't want to let her go. He didn't want Luna to vanish without a trace with the fallen star.

Then he really would be alone.

Watching the blood bleed away from her and the red bruises fade in the gentle glow of the spring, he felt sick with himself. What was he thinking? Hadn't he already found out what happened to Luna because of him? How could he even dare to think to deprive her of the safety she deserved? Zelda had said so herself—it had only been one day and Luna was already back here in the springs of Lanyru, out cold. It was unreal. He didn't deserve her presence. He never had. Besides, he had to deal with Midna on his own. This was his weakness he had to face, his screw up. If he had only prompted her to return the Fused Shadows, and if he had only not hesitated so when she offered him the power to combine their worlds. Even now he was hesitant and unsure of the right choice. He had told her he had loved her. Then what?

"I'm going to check in on Jasmeen, if I heard his name right. Perhaps he would like to return to the castle with us for food as well. It's the least I could do to repay him for helping you."

_You don't need to repay him anything,_ he wanted to say, but he neither had the motivation nor the time as Zelda stood and walked back up to the entrance of the spring. He didn't hear her voice or Jasmeen's, so the star must have wandered far from the entrance. Feeling the silence of the empty room more than hearing it, he returned his gaze to Luna. The light had begun to die down till only the amber of the lamps remained. When her white lashes began to flutter, every nasty pain percolated in his gut rose to his chest like a wave of needles. Long before he'd ever be ready for it, those blue eyes opened and stared right into his. The needles rose.

She didn't say anything. Her face betrayed nothing of what she thought. Then, her eyes widened and she jerked as though to move away.

But urged on by all the suffocating aching he felt, he lifted her from the water and yanked her roughly against him, burying his face into her shoulder and her wet hair.

"I'm sorry." he croaked. "I am so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

And hefted on by exhaustion, hunger, conflict, guilt, and sorrow, he began to shamefully weep.

To his endless amazement, Luna barely hesitated before wrapping her wet arms about his head. When her soft lips pressed into his hair and onto his forehead, he could only cry harder and hug her tighter. Wet feathers, dripping spring water, wrapped about him in a protective cocoon.

This wasn't right either. He didn't deserve this.

"No, Luna. Stop."

And instantly she pulled back, expressing questioning, but eyes fearful—afraid to be hurt.

He felt a rush of panic.

"It's nothing like that, it's just… I don't deserve your forgiveness. This is wrong. You shouldn't have come down here in the first place, it was never worth it. You should have stayed up there, in the sky."

She watched the tears that he hated drip down his face. She did not let go, however, and her wings remained wrapped about them. Then she did the next remarkable thing and gave him that tender smile. She drew in close, parting her lips to whisper in that ethereal, musical voice.

"Mortality is a gift from the gods. Not many understand why, but even now it is a gift to me."

"Please, don't talk. You'll just hurt yourself. I don't need you to hurt yourself even more over me, please, just stop."

She shook her head. "You must understand. I don't regret this. Sadness, anger, pain—all these come with mortality. But they have taught me of happiness, peace, and joy as well." she winced, but nuzzled her nose to his cheek in attempts to hide it. "Even if you chose another…I would never regret having this time with you. I do not regret leaving my lonely throne in the sky to have this chance to see you, to speak to you, to finally hold you…" her voice finally cracked and gave out.

"Luna…" but he didn't know what to say and only dropped his head back onto her shoulder. He was so tired. So Din damn tired.

And without knowing how it happened, he slipped away from her arms, fell against a thin bed of grass a few feet away, and doze off. No troubling dreams of twilight invaded his sleep, and he knew, even then, that Luna had something to do with it. The moon watched over his rest as she always had.

But when he woke up…she was gone.

**Update: Here's the vote so far for March 30, 2013. It's rather surprising.**

**Midna: 4**

**Luna: 4**

**Other/Zelda/Don't know!: 4**

**So, you have fallen for my trap...buwahaha. **


	13. The Star Next to the Moon

**Author's Note: Luna is now up to five, Midna 4, and other/Zelda/whatever at 4. **

**As always I update at least once a week, please leave reviews, favorite me if you like the story, and please don't try to kill a spider with a Game Informer magazine. Just doesn't work. As always I am your humble storyteller.**

**And remember that being kind will always win you more battles than being fierce ever could, so pick your battles wisely. **

Chapter 13: The Star Next to the Moon

Moving along the ground with multiple new limbs, Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit had lost all sense of himself. With the loss was a sense of his surroundings as well. He only knew the flash of darkness and color and the rush of instinctual attack. Ambers, oranges, yellows, and forever that deep black, black, black that went as deep as his fear, for a creature of the light could only exist within fear in this realm.

And then, without knowing what had happened or what had begun, he came to blinking in the morning light with all four of his original fuzzy limbs and his precious bushy tail. Grass rustled in his vision between rocks. He instantly recognized the unnatural pattern as man-made. Sniffing, he caught the scent of water. Lots of it. More than he had ever smelled. With growing bewilderment, Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit scrambled up one of the stone stacks and peered over the side. Sure enough, far below—much farther down than any tree was tall—was a great sea of water.

He just about fainted. How in the world had he gotten here? Wherever here was? One minute he was sitting on a tree branch holding his sister's walnut as the sky grew gold—

Oh nuts. The walnut.

Though he already knew it wouldn't be around here, he looked anyways, sniffing madly, tail up high. This couldn't be happening. His sister would _kill_ him. Not only that but where by the Great Squirrel was he? How would he ever get home?

And to make matters worse, a noise of large, flapping wings came to his ears. A shadow fell over him, and with deep trepidation he looked up and screamed.

The winged female human had come back for him.

And it had brought along another flying human.

Still screaming, he ran about on the flat wall of stones, leaping down to run some more on the pavement he had woken up to. The shadows were shifting, and the humans were drawing closer. One looked bigger than the other, but both were so gigantic to him he really couldn't tell the difference. Not to mention they were most likely going to eat him, so it didn't matter how big they were.

"I barely remember you, Jasmeen. Why do you expect me to just follow you blindly?"

"Because you have no one else to trust."

"I have Link!"

"Heh. You haven't changed a bit. You know some humans attribute wisdom to the moon. I don't know where they got that idea. Must I remind you that it is because of him that you are in this state? It is his lover—yes, there is something between them, I saw it myself, so squash your silly hopes—but it is his lover that has tricked you into this state. Now, do not speak. You're throat-"

"I don't trust you."

Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit slowed down as it dawned on him that the monster humans hadn't even seen him yet. With his heart still pounding in his ears, he slowed and crept behind a lose stone to hide. He still didn't want to risk being seen. He didn't recognize the crazy noises they were making, nor what they meant, but he knew it had something to do with the end of the world. There was a reason the Big Squirrel didn't make humans able to fly. Besides, they were like monkeys and could climb well, so they didn't need flying on top of it.

"I know your memories are blurry, but you really should have thought of this before making that deal with the Twilian queen. Your mortal mind cannot handle the memories of an immortal. It is part of the state of mortality—memory is imperfect. Even I know this. But we can fix all that. You brother is looking for a way to get your immortality back from the Twilian as we speak. All I ask of you is that you trust me until then. It will all make sense soon. Now come."

"No."

"We don't have time for this! Do you not understand the gravity of this situation? Your brother should have been able to keep the light in the world where my Twili and you were, but the queen was still able to find a way to bring twilight in—"

"You?"

"Yes, I am sorry for the pain I caused you concerning your soulgem. I'm not sure if you remembered this, but as your brother brings light to the world, you can bring twilight. I wasn't sure it would work after you foolishly gave that power over to the queen, but the Twili need the cover of twilight in order to create portals—"

"_You did that?"_

"Yes. But believe me, I had no choice. I had to get you to—"

"Do you have any idea how much that hurt?!" the voice made a coughing noise. Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit wondered if she were coughing up a fur-ball, though why humans had problems with fur-balls he didn't know. They were practically naked except for that odd, messy patch on their heads. His sister had always said that only special humans had fur, but he had never seen the proof of that. An idea came to him at the thought of his sister. What if trailed after these winged humans, and then if they came near the forest he could split and warn his sister and the rest of his family? Then she'd forget all about the nut and praise him as the rarest of all commodities: a reliable brother. Heck, he'd be a hero amongst all squirrels! For he would have warn them of the oncoming winged humans just in the nick of time, so they can find special, underground holes. Humans had not yet grown claws to burrow. There was hope for them yet.

Growing excited by this prospect, he crept just enough out of his hiding space so he could watch the humans carefully. It didn't take much. The Big Squirrel had really thought it out when he made humans so loud, clumsy, huge, and easy to spot. Maybe he had a chance of surviving this crazy plan.

"Stop speaking. Just trust me."

"But Link—"

"Do I have to make it clear to you? That mortal does not love you. If anything, he merely pities you, and to be quite frank I don't blame him. You are pitiful. Especially part naked as you are. Didn't he even have the decency to dress you properly?"

The humans were quiet for a bit. Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit grew afraid that they had finally spotted him. His fur even went on end.

"But there are people who do love you. People up there, in the sky, including your brother."

The squirrel gave a sigh of relief. Ugly human noises never sounded better.

"You do remember him, right? Because that is where you belong. Don't you understand? Because of the awful choice you made, all that the goddesses have worked for is in jeopardy. _We_ are in jeopardy. Now stop acting like a foolish mortal and come with me."

The taller human—yes, now that he wasn't terrified for his life, one of the strange winged humans was taller—grabbed one of the forelimbs of the winged female and they moved forward. He got ready to run after them in his hiding spot, but just as they reached far enough for him to believe it was safe to move, the female leaned back and pulled them to a spot, shaking her head. That strange long fur of hers wagged back and forth like willow branches.

"What if Midna comes back for him? She isn't what she use to be. He's not safe."

"Mortals die every day. Let the goddesses take care of their chosen hero."

Even Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit understood the angry noise the female made. "If they cared about his suffering they would not have put him through what they did without comfort waiting for him at the end. They left him comfortless." More coughing. When would she get rid of that fur ball? If any human had trouble with fur balls it was her with that craze mane of hair on her head.

"It isn't your job to comfort him. Your job is to watch the border. Now enough. I don't want to hear another word from you, you're already in a bad enough state as it is."

"Where are we going?"

"To a point where we'll rendezvous with your brother. He should have figured out a way to get you—and now me—back into the sky. And don't give me that look, you should at least remember what it takes for a being of the heavens to fall. Now you should understand why I'm so impatient at the moment."

"Why can you—" cough, "—talk?"

"My voice doesn't hold the same energy as yours. I am of a much lower sphere. It's another reason why I have been able to keep from being scented out by that blasted Twili."

"But you're not—"

"Shush!"

They began moving again. With held breath, Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit followed, only taking a breath when he fell into daydreams of the praise he would get for saving them all. He may even get to choose any mate he wanted. He could get the sleekest, plumpest females with eyes as big as acorns. Maybe getting himself lost to this strange place of rock bridge and body of water was the turning point of his luck.

12#$%$(&*^%$## #$%^&*(&^%$# #$$%^

Stars. Millions of them, peppered upon a seamless quilt of navy and violet. He could feel it-that quilt, wrapped completely around him as though he were a newborn babe not quite yet allowed to see the world. It felt of velvet. It smelt of Luna: cool, crisp, and heartbreakingly sweet. The stars blinked at him. He didn't know how long he slept wrapped up in that quilt, hugged by countless stars and rubbing his fingers along the invisible fine threads of sky.

A light caught his attention. At first he thought it just a bright star, but then it began to glow ever brighter. With a jolt he realized it was not a star at all, but the round, pearl like orb of the moon. He blinked, and the orb changed shaped, shrinking down to the shape of a woman. She smiled at him, and the stars danced. Silvery rays of moonbeam made up her hair. Feathery wings of light stretched out about her, flicking stars off their perch with her feathers. As she came towards him the velvet of the sky shrank away and she reached out her arms.

And began to sing.

It was as his memory remembered it: unlawfully beautiful. Fiery courage welled up in his chest and he stood his ground before her. His heart lifted, his mind cleared, and the glorious sensation of being _alive_ flooded his being. He was Link. And the mere fact of having his own identity enthralled him.

He reached out for her as well. He must understand this: this truth about himself revealed by her song. She beamed at the invitation and ran the last few steps to him.

"Luna."

And she faded away. The stars fell. The blackness lifted, but the warmth remained. Squeezing his eyes shut against the sun, he tried to call back the dream and turned over in his blankets. The sun, however, was insistent, and instead of growing darker against his squinted eyelids, curiously got brighter. Was it just him, or was the room getting hotter? In fact, sweat was already beading on his forehead.

He cursed and threw off the blankets now smothering him. The guest room of the castle was filled to bursting with light. Afraid for his sight, he pressed his hands hard over his eyes.

"What do you want this time?" he said, vocal chords cracking over the boiling air.

"Your bitch of a girlfriend is being unreasonable. She won't give Luna back her immortality."

Link snapped his teeth together—hard. "So you're smothering me to death because of it? It's the Fused Shadows. She's corrup—" he coughed. His lungs were fighting. He could feel his skin smarting. Despite the discomfort, it somehow wasn't as bad as the last time the sun had paid a visit, close and personal.

"Hey, there's a whole wall between you and me and I'm doing all I can to keep the barrier up on myself. I _would_ like to crisp you for what you did to my sister, but, unfortunately, I need you."

"To what? Persuade Midna otherwise?"

"Yes."

"Oh wow, how did I know? I must be getting smarter. Seems that's all I'm good for, lately. Being man-bait."

"This is a battle of immortals. Of course that's all you're good for."

Link gritted his teeth. His ire licked at him even hotter than the sun's heat. Oh, what he wouldn't do to spit in the spirit's face. Din damn sky spirits, waking him up at the crack of dawn, baking him in his room, mocking him about his way with women, taking Luna, then having the courtesy to demand of him that he manipulate a woman who was in love with him. Bastards. All of them. Even though he hadn't met most of the spirits of the sky, he didn't care.

"Well, sorry, but I already tried that." he said.

The sun made a spitting sound like water on a fire. "Try again."

"Won't work. I already told you, she's corrupted by the Fused Shadows."

"We all know that! Idiot Twili. There was a reason the goddesses sealed those away."

"Then why didn't the oh-so-knowing goddesses just destroy them then, huh?" he said, ire pushing through his melting lungs. He thought he could feel his skin beginning to blister.

"Same reason the goddesses separated the land of light from the land of twilight." the sun made another spitting sound. "Balance. There cannot be life where there is not balance."

Link paused at this. A shadow of dread crouched in the corner of his mind as realization dawned on him. "Are you saying, that if Midna is successful—"

"She won't be."

"Oh?"

"No. For one, there's no way she can get the Triforce, and also I am going to protect the border—"

"Great job you're doing there."

"Don't antagonize me, mortal." The sun hissed, and Link was certain his skin was blistering now. "Will you agree to help me or not?"

"It won't work!"

"Yes or no! Damn it, you're annoying."

"Then we have a lot in common, don't we?"

Now the whole room was spitting and crackling. "Why are you being so resistant! Do you want the world to die?"

"Of course not."

"Then meet me outside the city gates or forget about thinking yourself as any hero, let alone a man."

And then the awful heat and light vanished. Link gasped raggedly in the cooled air, chocking on his burning lungs and wincing as he moved. Blisters speckled his front like a disease. He groaned.

"Goddesses. When this is over, I'm living in a cave for the rest of my life."

"Link?"

He froze at the small voice at the door.

"Princess?"

"Yes, um…may I enter? I'm guessing the sun spirit came back, because there was a lot of light and the castle got very warm all a sudden."

"That was him, all right. Come in."

No sooner had she opened the door when her white gloved hand flew to her mouth with a gasp.

"Oh, Farore, your skin—"

"Yeah, I know. I look like a plucked cuckoo, huh?"

"Um…well, we did get awfully sunburned the last time he came and talked to us. I'll send for the physicians."

"Is that all you came for?" he asked politely as she turned. She blinked at him before she seemed to remember and smiled.

"Oh, yes. It's an update on the spread of twilight. So far it is only Lanyru province that still withholds its light, and only up to certain points. My scouts are very confused as to why there are great golden black walls surrounding our land." she hesitated, biting her lip. He waited patiently, not surprised by the report at all. Luna's arrogant brother could only do so much on his own.

The princess looked down. "What did the sun say? What do we have to do?"

He sighed heavily. What a way to start the day. "It's not what we have to do. It's what I have to do. Apparently the sun thinks I'm the only one who would be able to convince Midna to give Luna back her immortality. I never thought that immortality was in limited supply."

"I didn't either." said the princess grimly. "Do you think you can?"

He snorted. "Of course not. You know how stubborn she is. She makes a mule look positively meek. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure she hates me right now."

She cocked her head. "Why's that? Does this have to do with why you were so upset when you came back."

"….yeah."

She nodded and closed her eyes as though to put the pieces together in her mind's eye. Her hands folded together tightly.

"She loves you, doesn't she? Has all this time?" she asked.

"And now they expect me to use that to persuade her otherwise. Thing is when I first heard of her crazy plan I tried talking to her. I really did!" he made a graveling, angry noise in his sun-dried throat. "But no one listens to me."

"It's only because they have no other option."

"No other option?" He reached for the pitcher of water at his night stand and tried to pour himself a drink. The water was already half way evaporated. "They out number her by what? I'm guessing the stars are also sky spirits, since Jasmeen is one. They could…" but he stopped there as a horrible inky wave of horror washed over him. What was he suggesting? If there was an innumerable host of immortal sky spirits to go up against Midna, wouldn't she be…destroyed? Midna? How could he even think that? Why was he fighting against persuading her otherwise when that was, not only the cleanest way, but the most safe for her to survive all this? Why had he let his anger at the sun lead him so far as to think things like that?

He suddenly felt nauseous and put the pitcher back without getting the much needed drink. What was wrong with him? He bent over, arms around his middle, blistered skin smarting. Midna wasn't the enemy. The Fused Shadows were. She was but the victim. She had to be…though the Fused Shadows were no entity of themselves. She knew they were evil, and yet she kept them. She chose to be led into this. But couldn't she be allowed to make a mistake?

Zelda had turned frantic.

"Link? Link, are you okay? Just, don't move, relax, I'm getting the physicians right now."

He heard her guards shuffle at the door as they left with her. The latch quietly snapped shut, leaving him alone on the bed to his thoughts.

It was all so clear now. Combining light and dark would make neither. Making them no longer opposites would put an end to both, along with all the outlines and colors and life of both their realities. Why couldn't Midna see that? But of course, she thought with the Triforce anything was possible. But what kind of world could come of such a wish? What kind of existence could exist out of a null nothing where the sky and earth were no longer separate entities, but one?

There could be no question now. There could be no doubt within him. Midna had to be stopped, hopefully by persuasion. But even as he thought that the very things that made Midna the friend he knew would make this nigh impossible. She was headstrong, determined, prideful, and stubborn as a rock. At one time he had thought these attractive. Now, they only brought him dread.

But wait…why did Midna want the world combined again? She had said the reason was so they could be together, without repercussions, but there had also been others, such as her frustration with the inability to live in both worlds. She was infatuated with the life of light. Would it be enough to convince her—he winced as he thought it-that he didn't love her and that there was no hope for them to be together no matter what she did? Yeah that would…suck, to some degree. But if it saved the world as well as Midna, win win, right?

At least Luna was safe.

This brought up his dream to him, and the beautiful white being that came to him in it. The song still echoed in his bones and brought a pleasant thrum to his emotions. If Midna was right, the more Luna remembered the more she was siphoning back her powers from Midna, but Midna was after the Triforce. What did she need of Luna, who sounded to be the failed plan A, at this point? Luna could only take back so much power before she destroyed herself in her frail, mortal form. Only that scared him, because he knew that if she thought she had to, Luna would do just that, and if her death didn't kill him, her brother would.

Speaking of which, he had to meet up with the sun eventually, but then what? Was that the plan, then? To convince Midna there was no hope for the two of them and pray that that was enough to throw her off her plan?

A small voice whispered _unlikely_, and brought an image of her flashing, angry eyes and her bared fangs. If anything, she'd just add him to her 'smite' list on her climb to godhood. Din, what a mess he had gotten himself into.

The physician had arrived. He was a spindly, balding sort of man bent in half by an overstuffed bag. Link didn't realize just how burnt he was until he got up from the bed to meet the man and ended up doubled just as him with his bag. The physician rushed over to help him not collapse, but even his touch made him cringe and hiss through his teeth.

Yep. It was final. When this was all over he'd live in a cave and never come out for anyone. He'd draw pictures on the wall of punching the sun in carefully selected spots and act like a savage so everyone would leave him alone; deer skin loincloth, foam about the mouth, twigs in his hair, the whole deal. He had helped out enough. They should learn how to fix their own problems.

Though…he _could_ come out at night…when the moon shone bright and the stars were spread over the velvet quilt of the sky. Yeah. But only then, because Luna would never expect anything of him, and she wouldn't care if he acted like a savage or not anyways. She might mind the pictures of him mauling her brother, though…

Lucky for him, the searing pain of the physician picking at the blisters burned any sadness that came to his heart at the thought of Luna, far away, watching the world from the perch of her lonely silver throne.


	14. The True Nature of the Immortals

**Author's note: Buwahahaha! Chapter 15 will be the final chapter! I have successfully written a story around 50,000 words! It is possible! **

**As for the voting process, I didn't know what ending I would choose. Half way through the story, though, I realized how it must end. Really all my fault, I set it up that way unknowingly. Here is the next to last chapter. If you peeps give me enough reviews or drag unsuspecting friends to read and BAWL along with you, I may post the last chapter early. But you don't want the ending to come so soon, do you? **

**Live long and prosper.**

Chapter 14: The True Nature of the Immortals

Secret Agent Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit had quite the time following the humans, since they could fly, though they didn't fly very high, and all he could kept track of was running as fast as he could. A day passed like this, with the squirrel occasionally taking breaks to eat a quick nut before chasing down the apocalyptic beings. Because of this it came as a surprise to be suddenly running through grass that stood still. Even as he brushed past the grass it stood as hard as stone or shattered completely when he pushed too hard. This caused the squirrel-recently-turned-spy a great deal of discomfort. He spent a good few hours just trying to make it within hearing distance of his targets, which had stopped for the night at the side of a bubbling stream.

Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit eventually collapsed amongst the grass, exhausted, and fell asleep faster than you could say chestnut. He didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up to a powerful voice that burned his very ears as he heard it. Scared poopless, the squirrel rolled onto its feet, eyes wide, but he could see nothing. In fact, he could only see dark, as though it weren't seeing at all.

"Sire, this isn't necessary—"

"I'm the sun. You're really not going to ask the question, are you? Besides, it's been a while and I need an answer from you: what was with the Twili?"

"I couldn't move as freely in twilight as I would've liked, sire. It is because of them I have managed to adapt myself to making portals in and out of twilight."

"Yes, but what was with the masks? You freaked her out! She's hurt herself multiple times trying to use her powers to fight against those friends of yours. First in the forest when she first landed and then back in the town—I mean honestly, that was unlike you. Not even I knew that those Twili were working for you and it caused me a lot of stress trying to get her out there."

"I didn't think that one through, I am sorry."

"Brother?"

"Yes, sister, it's me. I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you. If I had come any earlier, without preparations, I would have burned you."

"Is Link…"

A fiery snort of annoyance. "I'll see to him after this. I need you to do something for me. Jasmeen is going to…refresh your memory on some defensive maneuvers that shouldn't harm your body too much. As soon as you have them down I want you to stay here while Jasmeen returns to Hyrule Castle and takes Link to the twilight realm. I would do it myself, but…anything twilight was always in your department. I can only bring light back. Good thing stars can work as go-betweens."

"Why is he going-" a brief cough from what must've been the female. A hot tension filled the air at this sound, and the fur on the squirrel's back felt rather crispy all a sudden.

"Oh sister…why did you do this? Why did you become mortal? It was so stupid." said the burning voice.

By now Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit was getting rather alarmed that he couldn't see anything. Had they found him and stuffed him in a bag? Or worse…had he died? Yes, his ghost must be floating around. He crawled from his position, searching out his limbs, just to run face first into one of the stone like grass blades with a squeak of pain. Okay. Maybe he wasn't dead.

"Sire," said another deeper sounding voice, "what is this that you have casted over us? I can barely see you."

"It's a very temporary barrier that takes a good deal of my power and I can only use it very rarely. I barely have any strength to spare, since I'm keeping light over the holders of the Triforce. It's to prevent my essence from harming either of you." the powerful voice gave a heavy, crackling sigh. "Sister, I hope you can get back soon. Trying to keep the border up by myself is very…wearisome."

"How does it go persuading the queen?"

"Her stolen immortality is very annoying. I tried crisping her on the spot—"

"That was very unwise."

"I don't need your advice, Jasmeen. I hate her. I hate that mortal hero too. They deserve each other. What's wrong sister? Jasmeen, I heard her talk a minute ago, what is wrong?"

"She can talk, though with great pain."

"She's trying to tell us something. Why isn't her voice working anymore?"

"The mortal frame is weak. Perhaps her throat just finally gave out."

"It's okay, sister. Calm down. I'll figure out a way to get you home, I promise."

"Uh, sire, I don't think that's what she's upset about."

Unheeded by the voices and the winged humans, the blind squirrel was frantically feeling his way out through the grass, frequently bopping his head. What was this stuff? What was this _place?_ It was ungodly! It was unholy! Was this the world they were intending to wreck upon him and his fellow squirrels? Turning all their precious plants into stone so tree bark became uninhabitable, leaf-falls mortal, bushes spikes of death, and nuts…and nuts…

Oh by all holy nuts, this plan was stupid. Any moment now they would find him, squeaking in panic and running himself into stone grass and roast him on the fiery breath of the powerful new voice. He should have never left home. He should have never tried to be a good brother. Life would have turned out so much better if he had simply not fought his true nature as an unreliable, nosy, envious brother.

"Sire, I think…I think she's completely lost her voice…"

! $&%$^$#% #^%$&$&$%## #%$#^$#%#

Link didn't want to meet back up with the sun. And frankly, who would?

So he lingered as long as he dared. Lucky for him the physician was under contract with the royal crown, making him the best of the land, so the rare, expensive balm he had used on Link's burns was working miracles. After a day and a night his burns were already most of the way healed, and as the red faded he grew closer and closer to looking like a baked potato. He wondered if even a life-time of being a cave savage would bring him back to any normal color of skin. Sure girls like men who were tanned, but this was just ridiculous.

He had breakfast with Zelda the next morning in her study. She remained rather quiet, and Link was beginning to realize that the Princess of Hyrule might just be a rather introverted, introspective person. She read a book as she elegantly scooped scrambled eggs into her mouth.

She looked up at him as though awaking from a dream when he asked her a question.

"What was that?"

"I asked 'what are you reading?'" he said.

"Oh, it's research. I'm trying to read up all I can on the guardians of the border, the sky spirits, and the history of Hyrule in general."

"Anything good so far?"

"Not entirely. Most of the information we have is based mostly on mythology and legends, and those are unreliable and warped at best. I guess it's good to know them in case there is some small truth in them."

She looked back to her book and took up another mouthful of scrambled eggs. He nibbled on his sausage, wondering if that was it to Zelda's wisdom concerning the situation. About ten minutes later, right as he was considering getting up after finishing breakfast, she spoke up.

"There's just this one thing that keeps repeating itself that I just don't get."

"What is it?" he asked.

"They keep repeating how mortality is a gift given by the gods and that immortality is like…a sort of natural occurrence." she lifted her head and gazed out of the window, eyebrows furrowed. "If that is the case…was it really Midna who gave up something? And then once she gave up her gift she returned to her natural state of immortality? But that just doesn't make any sense. How is the suffering and sickness that comes from mortality a gift?"

"Luna said something along the lines of that."

For the first time that morning Zelda was all attention.

"What did she say?"

"That mortality was a gift, and that although she suffered because of it she was able to experience the good even better because of them, or something like that. Maybe that's why Jasmeen and the sun are so careless of the romantic feelings of Luna and Midna and keep believing them to be stupid. Maybe romantic love is one of those things that you can only appreciate through suffering. It doesn't make much sense to me, though, anyways, the whole gift part. There are lots of things I'd rather live without. Maybe something different happens to us when we die."

"Perhaps." The Princess looked back out the window, eyebrows still furrowed. "Which brings up another thing. I found an old legend about an immortal being killed off by another. It was very…cryptic. It sounded more like a children's story. But the immortal was killed because he was trying to destroy all that the goddesses had created out of jealousy."

To Link, it sounded more than familiar.

"There were even talking animals in it, though, so…I don't know whether to put much stock into it. Besides, I'd hate to think of us having to do something as ghastly as kill Midna. Surely there's a way to break the curse or whatever is over her."

He turned towards the door. "She isn't under a curse."

"Isn't that what the Fused Shadows did? Besides, there's no way Midna would ever do something like this. I mean, after all, she fought to save this land too."

"It's called 'justification,' princess. It's how evil men get where they are. She didn't just change overnight. She was worn down, day by day, justifying every thought to help herself feel better and to justify her bitterness, her loneliness, and her hatred of the way things were, and in turn, the goddesses. The Fused Shadows, by not giving them the wariness they deserved, only influence her even more by making her think she had the power to change her suffering. Power makes people…prideful." he sighed and made his way over to the door. "I talked to her, Zelda. She thinks she's above the goddesses now. She thinks she knows better. How do you persuade someone they don't?"

"Tell her the truth?"

"She lives by her own truth. It use to be a strength of hers, I think."

He was almost out the door now.

"Link?"

He paused and looked back. Zelda was biting her lip nervously. The book was folded in her lap.

"Don't lose hope." she said.

But he felt rather hopeless as he returned to his room to pack. Stuffing supplies into saddle bags, he wished fervently to be back home in his tree house. He missed the smell of goats, he missed the trees rustling in the wind, and he missed Ilia, Collin, and the rest of the villagers (excluding the perverted Sorens boys). In the back of his mind he wondered what would have happened if everything had gone according to Luna's plan and Midna hadn't let twilight through the border. He knew Luna and him would have become fast friends. In fact, Luna's sweet spirit would have attracted all the villagers to her and he knew she would not have been like the Sorens, but would have done all she could to help out, even serve. Of course, Ilia and her rubbed wrong from the get go, but only because Ilia was so bossy and temperamental. They would have gotten use to each other, for Luna would have eventually charmed Ilia as well, just as she had so easily charmed him…

Would he have fallen in love with her?

He snapped the bags closed. His fingers lingered on the brass clasps. For a moment, standing next to the four poster bed, surrounded by images of the could-have-been, he felt a moment of weakness. Why didn't he see to that the Fused Shadows were returned to the light spirits? Why had Midna—strong, stubborn, deeply noble Midna—allowed this to happen to her? And how were they to fix all this? If she couldn't be persuaded, would they have too…

He buried his face into his hands and fell to his knees besides the bed.

Link, savior of Hyrule, chosen hero of the gods, never before felt so abandoned as he did then. There was no magical weapon left behind by the goddesses to help him this time. There were no useful hints, there were no helpful protectors of Hyrule that could help him, and there wasn't any Midna-like-companion to give him advice and save him when he fell into dark abysses. He felt like he was falling into one of them now.

The next afternoon, when the sun hovered over the horizon, hesitant to leave, Link's burns had healed enough for the physician to let him go and he snapped on his sword and shield, hefted his saddle bags over his shoulder, and made his way to the stable. With Epona carrying his luggage, he rode to the city gates.

By the time he made it there the afternoon had deepened even further. Standing with his long arms folded and still wearing the rectangular shift, Jasmeen waited for him.

"Where's Luna?" he asked instinctually, dismounting.

Jasmeen ignored the question completely. "I'm here to take you to the twilight realm."

"Won't we have to go to the desert first? To get to Midna in her palace, I mean."

"No. I'm sure with her new found powers your queen will find you just fine." At this, Jasmeen gave a wide, unpleasant smirk which gave Link the creeps. Even Epona nickered nervously.

"What about the princess? She has a piece of the Triforce as well. Shouldn't someone, you know, keep guard?"

"What do you think the sun has been doing this whole time?"

"But, if Midna had really wanted to, she could have just walked over to the palace and…"

Jasmeen still had that discomforting smirk. Link gave a small noise of frustration.

"I'm just saying," he said, "that I'm not entirely sure what's going on still. Care to explain?"

"Let it suffice to say that the sun spirit has more barriers to protect the Triforce than just his light."

"Oh, well, um…wouldn't it be a bad thing if I went to Midna then?"

"This is very unlike you, courageous hero. Getting cold feet already?"

"No!" he snapped angrily. "I'm just questioning the soundness of this plan."

"I'd love to hear the oh-so-enlightened plans of a mortal. Now, leave your horse and step up here."

Link hesitated. He had prepared her with the idea he would have to ride to the desert. Hearing this made him feel rather stupid. Epona could manage herself just fine on her own with his saddle bags. She had dozens of times before without allowing herself to be robbed once. But having gone hungry the last time he went to twilight, he wasn't too fond of letting her go after packing so much good food. So he grabbed a thick piece of bread before patting Epona and climbing up the small platform off to the side of the city gates where Jasmeen now stood. His long, silvery-blue hair gleamed in the light of the sun.

"One last thing." said Link.

The star looked down at him, clear annoyance beginning to wrinkle around his eyes.

"Is Luna safe?"

"Yes. Much safer than she ever was with you, I daresay."

Link just nodded to this, feeling relieved.

"Good. Thank you."

"I don't know why you'd bother thanking me. I achieved what I intended from the beginning of this disaster. I did nothing for you."

"I know, just…" but as was becoming common when it came to Luna, he didn't know what to say.

Jasmeen lifted his hands and clapped above his head. A whirl of light bled through the air before them, creating a great, round window. Through it could be seen the rippling contrast of ocher, black, and faded shades of the twilight realm. The tall man waited.

"Well?"

Link, steeling himself for the unknown before him, took a steadying breath and stepped through the portal. Jasmeen stepped after him, dissipating the window behind them. The hero was faintly surprised for a moment.

"You're coming with me?"

"Of course," sneered Jasmeen, "how else will the sun know what's going on? He can only see into the land of light. But of course, you already knew that."

"Oh…yeah. But what are you going to do while I, you know…" oh goddesses, this was going to be awkward.

"That is none of your concern."

It was decided then. Link now officially knew this man had a perpetual stick up his butt. Instead of telling him that, he sighed.

"I guess I'll just…start walking, then. Hopefully she'll find me. Am I'm suppose to meet up with you if she agrees or disagrees or whatever?"

"Don't worry. I will find you." The whites of Jasmeen's eyes flashed. For not the first time, Link got the impression he had X-ray vision. Inwardly, he felt a sizzle of anger. Was this jerk going to be watching him the entire time? Had he no right to privacy? But at least it made getting a hold of Jasmeen easier.

Without wasting another word, Link turned and began to walk across the blank expanse of twilight. Scattered in the distance he could see some trees and maybe an oddly shaped mountain, but against all the darkness it all sort of melded together. Jasmeen's silvery-blueness soon melted away into the shadows as well, and Link found himself very alone. It was neither hot nor cold or too dark or too light, but forever lined with shadows. At one point he thought his vision was beginning to blur, like it did in a dream, and he blinked hard in attempts to clear it.

For some reason, Luna came to mind. When he started to feel crushed by the heavy silence edged with indistinct tinkling, he started talking to himself.

"Gosh, I never even got to know you. What your favorite color was. What you liked to do. What your favorite food was…but do immortals even eat? They don't need to eat. But then, you're not really like them, are you? Probably never were." he took off his hat. The one Luna had rescued had been forever lost. This copy had been quickly made by the castle tailor, but of course it wasn't the same. He fingered the professional stitches, thinking. After a bit more aimless walking, he smiled a bit to himself as an epiphany hit him. "Mortality, you said, is a gift. After meeting your _wonderful_ brother and his fallen star I think I know what you mean now. Mortality is suffering, but that's just the gift, isn't it? We learn compassion and empathy through suffering. We learn to appreciate happiness and learn what's really important through it too. That's why the sun and star are such bastards. They're immortal. They can't emphasize with us 'mere mortals' as they say. They can't appreciate love, because they've never had a need for it or have suffered for it. In a way, it makes me pity them. They must feel everything so shallowly. They even need the goddesses to tell to keep the earth safe otherwise they wouldn't even care."

Link slipped his hat back on. He looked up, imagining he could see the night sky past the dark clouds. With a sensation as though his heart was swelling, he stopped, smiling with a hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword.

"But not you. You're different, aren't you? Now that I think about it, the moon has an awful lot of craters and scars. Is that why?"

"Who are you talking to?"

He flinched and whirled around. Midna stood there, black cloak rustling about her in a breeze he could not feel.

"Midna?"

"Good job, you know your shapes. Now what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, actually."

"Oh." she said, though instead of looking surprised she just smirked. "In that case I'm sure you have a whole speech of apology ready. I graciously accept it. Shall we return to more comfortable settings and continue where we left off?"

Actually, Link wasn't entirely sure it was even safe to go with her back to her palace, if that was what she was insinuating. Midna held grudges close and back in the palace he would be surrounded.

At least he was completely dressed this time. Wonderful, beautiful shirt.

"By the way, you look like a baked potato."

He scowled, uncertainty forgotten. "I know, you don't have to point it out."

"It's okay. The sun came and visited me too." At this she lifted her cape to show the pink burns blotching across her two toned skin. "Wanted me to give your Luna her immortality back and tried to lift his barrier when I refused. At least you got to deal with him with the barrier on."

He stared at the pink contrasting with the rest of her black and white colorings. So, she really was immortal.

"Oh, don't worry," cooed Midna, "you're princess didn't suffer too much. Sure, it burned, but I started healing almost just as soon as it happened. I'm sure you're very angry with the sun for attacking me, though, so! I have one last thing I want to do before we get underway with the Triforce."

He snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh, Midna, that's what I wanted to talk to you about—"

"Of course of course, details details, I'll tell you all you need to know. But first, could you just turn around like so."

Her hands on his shoulders distracted him momentarily. The few fingers that touched his bare neck made him shiver. They were like ice. "No! I didn't come here to help, I came here to tell you something."

She paused at this. He could feel her fingers tense and nails taping against his neck. A shiver of apprehension crawled up his spine.

She gave a loud sigh. "Fine, what is it? But hurry up I don't got all day. Night is nearly upon the land of light."

"I-I came to ask—no, to tell you," crap, what was his initial plan? He was going to screw this all up. And he wasn't even entirely sure yet that he even wanted to tell Midna he didn't love her. All he knew was that he needed to stop her. "I-I-I don't love so, I mean, I don't love you and so it would be pointless to combine the two worlds together, because then together we won't—even then we wouldn't be together."

She snorted. "The sun put you up to this, didn't he? You sound like a jellyfish trying to lie."

He felt like everything was sand pouring between his fingers. He couldn't let this happen, not after all he had sacrificed to save both worlds. Not after all he had fought for. How could he? No, he had to be sure of himself. He had to be steady. Even though the nails were tracing down his neck and her musky breath was breathing past his ear, he clenched his hands.

"No, really. There is no point to this, Midna. I won't be with you. I refuse to."

The nails paused in their stroking. Her breath went still.

And then she stepped away.

"Fine," she said coolly. "I don't need your affections anyways. I have a much nobler cause than that."

And then he turned, not bothering to hide his desperation. "Which is what? Destroying everything? Can't you see this plan of yours is going to just ruin everything? Kill everything? There has to be opposition in all things for anything to exist!"

She snorted and folded her arms. "Of course you'd say that. You could never think outside what you've been told. Even when we were together I always had to point out the obvious to you."

He tried to decipher her thoughts behind the cold words. Was she heartbroken? Or had her immortality already made her forget about what was important in mortality?

"But, since I have to spell it out for you," she rested a hand on her hip. "I'm going to liberate life from beneath those idiotic, tyrannical women you call goddesses. No one should be held back—no one should be punished for their father's sins—and no one should be separated because their different. We should all be equal. All light, all twilight, all people."

"But we already are!" cried Link. "Can't you see that? Just because we live differently and because we live in different places doesn't mean one is better than the other—"

"Have you forgotten everything? We were banished here, idiot, and that usually has a bad connotation. But I don't have the time to argue with you, just turn around."

Her hard, cold fingers pushed him back around. Even as she did so he could see the air wavering before him.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting that sun down from his perch"

"How? Why?"

The air rippled wider, melting the horizon beyond it. He could feel Midna's lips smirking once more against his ear.

"Why, to kill him, of course. The bastard burnt me for the last time. And how? Let this be your answer."

And as the twilight before him dripped away, revealing the last light of the day over Hyrule Field, Midna began to sing in an unearthly, beautiful, and terribly familiar voice; the very voice that revealed the true nature of things, and even as he listened to the sound of Luna coming out warped and twisted from Midna's throat, he could see her fingers sharpening out of the corner of his eyes. Fused Shadows faded into being, dancing about them. Courage and strength welled up in him, but only long enough for him to recognize them before she closed her mouth. The Fused Shadows disappeared and he was left cold, empty, and horrified.

"Seeing you return back without that pathetic star will make him angry and curious, so you, dear love, make perfect bait. I'd be more dramatic and disguise myself as that sister of his, but sadly the sun's light shines through everything. I'll just wait here. And don't worry. The white-eyed freak won't see any of this."

And she shoved him back into the world of light.


	15. Sunset

**Author's Note: For GildedHylia, I post this early. Also because I am sad because I received two rejection letters from literary agents today. *sigh* And also because I was really really excited to tell you guys the ending! Gather round gather round. Now, let's see…where was I…**

Chapter 15: Sunset

He stumbled out. His boots shuffled into normal dirt and grass. Warmth returned. The smell of trees and fresh air came back as well. Birds twittered.

His heart pounded a drum roll in his ears as he swiveled around, drawing his sword. He couldn't stay out here. He couldn't let her—

But any trace of a portal was gone, as though it had never been there.

And then it began to grow hotter. The evening colors of the sky burned away. Birds screamed in fright and it was growing brighter and brighter.

"No!" he shouted at the sky. "Don't come down!"

"I will not be commanded by a mere mortal!" shouted a familiar booming, burning voice. "Why are you—"

Midna began to sing. It broke his heart how much she sounded like Luna, and yet not quite. The heat dimmed as the sun turned its attention away, and Link could almost feel his confusion. Everything was moving so fast. Everything was just too bright. He couldn't see! He was going to go blind! But he had to do something!

"_Go back!_" he screamed.

But even as the music filled the area he could begin to see again-and see the change. The light didn't dim, but somehow he could see without being blinded, and in the midst of that brilliant light he could see a man clothed in white flames, looking into the direction of the music. His hair burnt like white-hot iron, and his skin was a purer white than snow. Wings of fire blazed upon his back. But his eyes were bright, bright blue, so much like his sister's, and they were wide with bewilderment beneath a small clear gem on his forehead. Then, the sun spoke, and his voice had lost its overwhelming quality, turning soft and childlike.

"Big sister?"

And amidst the light a line of darkness appeared, digging itself into the white chest of the sun. His mouth opened in surprise, his hands fluttered to the wound, and Link watched as the sun slowly, tremulously, fell. The brightness dimmed. The heat dissipated. The wings of fire shrank against his back to meld in with his clothes. Link could see Hyrule Field again, except this time there were no colors across the sky or sunset to light the land. As the sun grew dimmer, the stars up above poke out one by one.

Midna was laughing. She sounded delighted and it didn't sound evil, cold, or unnatural. It sounded like normal, healthy Midna. Somehow, that was worse.

"Ha!" she said. "Teach you to burn a revolutionary. If you had only not been so narrow minded and judgemental, it wouldn't have turned out this way."

The white man was on his knees, hand to his heart where a black dagger had bitten in deep. Hot fire dripped from his chest, sizzling the grass away and melting the dirt. His clothes of fire hung on him limply, burning a dull blue.

Link fell to his knees. His sword clattered to the ground.

"Midna…" he croaked.

"How funny that miss Luna had the key all along, hey?" she said down to the sun, whose arms were shaking. "The voice to reveal the true nature of things. Never thought I'd piece it together, did you? That I'd figure the way to kill you is to bring out your true nature—your very _soul_? But I'm not killing you. No, that's something only mortals can do. Immortals simply...what's the word? Cease to be in a rather painful fashion that is a lot like dying?"

The sun gave a ragged cough, spitting flames onto the dirt, then collapsed onto his side. His blue eyes, too much like Luna's, were clenched tightly in pain. The white-hot glow of his body had faded to throbbing yellow.

Seeing her stand there beneath the night sky, leering at the fallen sun, something broke so soundly within him it could never be repaired. His friend. His best friend. His companion. The woman he loved.

He took up his sword.

"Things should move a bit more quickly now that you're not going to get in my way anymore. I have even found a way to extract the Triforce pieces, did you know? But listen to me, I'm ranting like some cliché-"

She leapt aside as a sword came down, snapping her jaw close with a snap. Wide orange eyes stared at him.

"What the—"

He slashed again, moving quicker by the second. He could feel his old skills returning to him and lifted his shield up when she tried to claw the sword from his grasp.

"What the hell are you doing? I know you were lying back there, you do love me. You couldn't—" and she narrowly missed a stab to the gut.

Link didn't say anything. All within him had simply become a raging, gnawing storm. He couldn't hear anything above its roar, and didn't want to.

His blade found her arm. She cried out in pain and clutched the wound as blood streamed out.

"Stop this," she said. "Please, don't make me kill you, Link. Please, stop! We can be together!"

He sliced. She dodged. He expected this and leapt after her to land a thrust that cut through her cloak and grazed her hip. She staggered back, orange eyes darkening. The wound on her arm had already healed. Only a few droplets of blood remained.

"You're courting death." she whispered. He thought he could hear pain in her voice.

"If I don't," he said, "we're all dead."

A smile, sad, bitter, and unpleasant. "So set in your ways."

Huge liquid gold arms burst from her. Before he could even think about moving the hands wrapped about him tightly and completely, smothering him. All he could hear, taste, smell, breathe, was the bland gold of darkness. Even as he gritted his teeth and fought to raise his sword arm, the hands curved in on him, crushing him. In his ears he could hear a rib—then two ribs—snapping, and the sound of his own muffled scream.

Then, suddenly, the hands slackened and pulled back, dropping him onto the earth. He lay on the ground, fighting to re-inflate his squashed lungs. Then he saw feathers so white they glowed against the darkness of the night.

Ignoring the pain he sat up. Luna had appeared with her face flushed red with exertion. She had probably flown as fast as she could the way here, though how she had found them he wasn't entirely sure. She stood between him and Midna, hissing through her pants, her wings raised defensively. The ragged nightgown was gone and in its place she wore loose fitting pants and a baggy shirt that could have been a man's. Even though she faced away from him, he could see the silver light shining from her forehead, making it look as though she wore a halo of moonlight. Past her legs he could see Midna, staring, mouth agape in surprise. However, it quickly closed into an amused grin.

No one caught the small squirrel that leapt off Luna's shoulder and fled into the night, where the weak light of the dying sun did not reach.

"Oh, Luna. What are you doing? You're still mortal, you know."

He grabbed his sword and scrambled to his feet.

"Luna, get out of here!"

"What for?" simpered Midna. "She is guardian of the twilight. We were bound to meet eventually."

Ignoring her, he hobbled over to Luna. Even standing before the angry darkness of Midna, she shone. Even mortal she held her luminescence. He reached for one of her wings and let his fingers brush across them. She glanced back.

"Luna, please. She'll kill you. This is my fight."

She gave him a half skeptical, have stubborn look before facing Midna again and raising her wings higher. He followed her eyes to the young man curled up silently on the grass, his skin a dull orange. It was then that he saw it: gold walls mixed with black far darker than the night could ever achieve. They were shifting beyond the horizon and moving in at a remarkable pace. He felt a shiver crawl up his spine. The moment the sun breathed his last breath, twilight would forever be upon them.

Luna leapt forward with a powerful down stroke. Grass flew, dirt clouds rose, and as he watched her wings rise up for another pump he thought he could see the stars shiver with the brush of her feathers.

He didn't waste any of his precious breath, but ran after her, picking up his shield along the way.

"This is so pointless!" Midna cried.

Luna met her with teeth bared and a clash of wings. Light speckled off her feathers and skin. The dark queen stumbled back, arms crossed over herself and a hovering shield of gold and green before her. But Luna didn't stop there, clawing and beating against the shield with silent cries of rage. Link arrived just as another dagger materialized in Midna's hand and barely deflected it from Luna with his own shield. The poor wooden thing, however, split in two and fell from his wrist. Midna laughed. He gritted his teeth. Why hadn't he thought to bring the Hyrule Shield? Because it was heavier, that's why, and he didn't think he'd have to rescue the world again after only a year.

He jabbed his sword in, but the pain in his side slowed him enough for Midna to whirl around, grab his arm, and fling him to the side. Then in the momentary hesitation from Luna she swung her arm forward into Luna's middle, sending out a wave of gold and darkness. The winged girl was thrown across the ground in a mess of feathers and hair. She came to a stop next to her fallen brother and didn't move. The light from her forehead dimmed.

His shield arm smarted with pain and he held it to his side. When had he become so fragile? Angry, he forced himself to let go of his arm, clench his fist, and lift it up. He held tight to his sword as Midna turned back to him. Her glittering orange eyes glanced up to the horizon. The walls of twilight were just outside the edges of Hyrule Field, reaching high up into the stars.

"There's still time." she said. "Whatever you believe, Link, you can still change your mind and choose to be with me. We can still face whatever will happen together. But…I can't be okay with the world as it is now. You know that."

Link spat to the side; a habit he had acquired after splitting his lip one too many times during a battle and blood would fill up his mouth. There was no blood this time, however.

"No." he said. "That defeats who I am. And I cannot accept what is simply wrong."

She sighed heavily. "But you're making it so much harder for yourself. It's stupid."

"No! Doing what is right is never stupid. Nor is it always easy."

"Listen to yourself, you sound like a preacher."

Behind her he saw Luna stir. Her feeble sun of a brother had a hand on her, somehow lifting her with his shrunken, feeble wings flickering towards the sky. Midna, however, had yet to notice. He kept his eyes on her. Maybe, if he kept her attention long enough—

"You're killing people, Midna. How is that any better than just leaving the world as the goddesses intending it?"

One of her eyes winced ever so slightly. "It's for the greater good. Besides, the sun would've killed me if he could. The moon just can't be trusted."

Link gave her a bitter grimace. "Then why do you have your back to her?"

In that moment Midna realized her mistake Luna had her hands around her throat. But as he watched with his stomach leaping for fear that Luna could be so vicious, the winged girl didn't strangle her. Rather, her hands began to glow and she brought them back to her own throat. Midna gave a loud shout of rage and flung an arm across the girl's face. Luna stumbled just to be kicked by Midna back down the field to her brother. She got up, however, jaw set despite the blood trickling out the side of her mouth, the stone on her forehead gleaming brightly of various colors.

The Twili came after her again, barely a blur of black and white in the night, but Luna was already high in the sky. Stars twinkled behind her.

"Give that back!" screeched Midna, her cape flying out behind her like wings—but no, wait—even as he watched they morphed and _were_ wings.

And then Luna began to sing.

It was as it was meant to be. Courage and elation rose up in his heart. Strength filled his limbs, numbing the pain and sending adrenaline rushing through his veins like fire. He could have laughed at the sheer life pumping through him. The Triforce on the back of his hand came to life, sending golden light down the shaft of his goat-horn sword.

Midna's bat like wings were giving their first flap. As he watched she began to change to Luna's music: her figure became more severe, her face became twisted and enraged, and the shapes of the Fused Shadows began their tribal dance about her form.

He leapt forward, raising his sword.

Midna tripped as the sun, unawares to all, had gotten to his hands and grabbed her ankle.

His blade came down—and shattered one of the dancing pieces of the Fused Shadows in a burst of light. The Triforce on his hand pounded. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but was this his true nature? Courage? Unhesitant? And had that somehow activated his Triforce piece?

The Twilight Queen whirled on him after kicking the sun away. The immortal now lay prone on the grass a ways a way, a hand to his face, groaning. Link raised his Triforce empowered sword again, Luna's music ringing in his ears.

And for the smallest of moments, only enough to fill the space in between two thoughts, he stared into Midna's eyes, too dark, too menacing, too angry and hateful, and yet still so hers. They were still so determined, so stubborn, and still filled with the ideal of nobility. This was the woman who had bounced imp-like after him on his adventures and ridden his back as a wolf. She had saved his life, fought for him, risked her life for him, lied to him, was honest to him, laughed at him, felt sorry for him, befriended him…loved him.

Then he saw the black dagger in Midna's hand coming down on him, ready to bury itself deep within his chest—within his heart.

_Do you know,_ he thought he heard her whisper in his mind, _how one glens a Triforce piece?_

He swung the blade down. The dagger went into his shoulder instead.

Luna's song died away with a cry.

And Midna, eyes wide, had a red line running from her shoulder to her hip. The Fused Shadows didn't vanish, but clattered to the ground with their shattered brethren. Only two remained now, and they looked pitiful. She no longer looked twisted, angry, or hateful. She just looked surprised.

Her long legs buckled. No longer throbbing with courage, no long empowered by a glowing sign on his hand, Link caught her and dropped to the ground with her. Something or someone was screaming in his head. He, however, was silent. Midna blinked at him, stunned. But then she simply didn't blink again. The moment he took a breath her body dissolved in his hands, turning to bits of ash and squares and who knew what else. She didn't fly up into the sky, but trickled through his fingers.

The walls of twilight were in Hyrule Field now. Link just stared at his hands, his sword forgotten on the ground and speckled with ash.

A bit aways the sun shakingly got to his hands and knees. The black dagger had vanished from his chest and he fought for breath. His skin brightened ever so slightly. The dagger in Link's shoulder also vanished without his notice.

Luna landed across from him, her feathers scattering a small bit of the ash. Her white hands very lightly touched his cheek and his gaze flittered to her face. Whatever she saw made her turn away and tears were shining like pearls on her silvery cheeks. Silvery? Yes, she was no longer just pale, but growing brighter and brighter by the second. Even as he looked on he soon could barely see her through her light.

The night erupted into sound. Birds began to twitter, a few chipmunks squeaked, and the wind once more began to blow. Somewhere, unbeknownst to the two immortals and the broken hero, a squirrel watched and heaved a sigh of relief.

Luna put a hand to his bleeding shoulder. In a rush of warmth which he never noticed, the wound knitted itself up as though it had never occurred. Her hand fell to his side and his ribs mended together.

"I need to take my brother back or he will die." she said.

He said nothing. Just sat there. The screaming inside him now wanted to run and run until he simply died from exhaustion. The other half of him wanted to reach up for the pureness before him and beg to be wrapped in her embrace; to be comforted like a child by his mother. He wanted to be held. He wanted to be alone. He didn't know what he wanted.

Luna put a hand to her mouth, eyes overwhelmed by tears.

"This is not what you deserve."

Deserve? When had this ever been a question of what he deserved?

By the time he came to focus again, Luna and her brother had disappeared. Now he was completely alone. His hands were dyed with ash. The stars twinkled down at him, uncaring. He thought of Jasmeen and hated them. He stood up and screamed at them and shook his fist at the sky. He cursed those bastard stars. He cursed the goddesses. He cursed himself.

Fit to bursting with agony and hate, he whipped his sword back up from the ground, but didn't sheath it. Instead he set out across the field, not caring where he was going, but hoping wherever it was it had copious amounts of rabid monsters. The goddesses must have heard him, however, for not a monster crossed his path, where before he would have at least met two on a night like this.

The walls of twilight didn't move, but kept their strange golden light to themselves.

He wandered like this for how long he didn't care to count. The night went on forever without moon or dawn. The sun did not rise when he thought it should. But he kept walking, swinging his sword into grasses and bushes. At one point his blade met tree trunks and he relished yanking out his sword and seeing the deep cream cut he had made.

Then, quite suddenly, he was home. He stared up at his tree house shadowed by starlight. He could hear his neighbors and friends down the hill exclaiming loudly at the strangeness of this night that went on forever. Where had the dawn gone? Had the world stopped turning? Had the sun died?

But he turned around and plowed into the forest in the opposite direction, away from Ordon.

For what had to have been days he trudged on in his own darkness, waiting for his body to finally give out on feeling. No one would have been able to tell, though, for the suns till had yet to arrive. He didn't care. The bastard had tried to make him into bacon anyways. Maybe he would've been better off if he had been turned to bacon.

Then a pillar of light broke through the shadows of his mind. He blinked, coming to awareness of his shaking legs and trembling body. His head felt light with lack of food. His throat was parched. Confused, he looked around. For the first time he wondered where exactly he had wandered to and why he still clutched to his sword though his hand had long ago grown numb. And what was this warm light? He looked up to see a full moon, larger than he could remember, shining down upon him through the branches of the trees. A flitter of movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked down.

Sitting on a rock with what looked like a walnut clutched tightly in its hands sat a squirrel. The way it stood absolutely still was unnatural. It was like it was…watching him. The squirrel's tail twitched. Then it too looked up at the moon. The light was growing brighter, and Link could see shifting white reflected off the squirrel's big black eyes.

Link looked back just to be momentarily blinded by the moon. Weakly, he lifted up an arm to shield his eyes and peered through the shaft of light, where what looked like the slender form of a winged woman descended.

The light softened to a kind, moonlight glow. Standing before him, her arms outstretched and more beautiful than he could comprehend, was Luna, tears still trickling down her face.

"I'm back. You don't have to wander any longer. You've had enough."

And the sound of her musical voice finally gave him the strength he needed to let go of his sword and cry. His legs gratefully collapsed beneath him and he fell on his face before her, sobbing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Her arms lifted him into her embrace and feathers wrapped around them. He could feel her own wet face against his ear.

"You've done enough. You've lived out your mortality. I won't leave you here to suffer any longer."

"Who's cruel idea was it," he gasped, "to call mortality a gift?"

"Oh, Link." she sighed into his hair. "No one should've had to do what you had to. It was unnatural. But it was evil that caused this suffering to you, not the goddesses, and you have done more than you're calling in saving the world this time. But I've come to take you with me. If you wish you can shed your mortal coils and live with me in the sky, away from your pain, and watch the world with me."

"W-watch the world with you?"

She sniffed. "Yes, it's quite lovely. It's like having a source of never-ending stories. And I will always be at your side. You would never have to alone again. You would have peace."

He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, feeling feathers softer than silk all along his weak arms.

"Yes. Please. Take me with you."

She pulled away to let him see her smile. In that moment, looking up into her face, his breath was taken away from him for an entirely other reason. How had he been around this girl and not been struck witless by her beauty? It wasn't just a carnal, visual type, but a beauty that reached her very soul. Wiping tears off her face, she kissed him chastely on the forehead.

"I love you." she whispered. "I love your kindness, your strength, your loyalty. I even love the way you wear that strange hat all the time and how attached you've become to it. You hated hats as a child, I'm not sure what happened." she chuckled a sound like bells. "I love your patience with your friends. I love the way you sleep. I cannot tell you how many times I have watched over you as you've slumbered beneath me. It makes me want to hold you tight." She kissed him again, this time on his nose. "I will heal you. I'll take care of you. Just as you did your best to take care of me and so many others."

"Luna?"

"Yes?"

"You remember everything now, right?"

"I believe so."

"Is there a chance, then, you could…tell me your name?"

She laughed, her tears becoming slowly forgotten. "Amourah."

"A—moor—ah."

She smiled. "Though I like the name you gave me."

He tried to smile back, but his face just wouldn't, and all he got out of it was a strange cheek spasm. "I like Amourah."

She nuzzled her nose against his cheek as she had done so many times as a mortal. "Call me however you wish. Is there anything else you would like to do before we go?"

He flinched. "Can't we come back?"

"I guess so, but once you leave your mortal gift I am not sure mortal life will be the same to you anymore. Your friends and family will live a different life than you. You'll understand and see more than they are allowed and it may cause you grief to not be able to stop their suffering."

He hesitated, looking back over his shoulder. A few rocks away from where it had originally perched, the squirrel watched, walnut forgotten between its feet. He thought of Ilia and Bo. He thought of Fado and the warm days of watching goats. He thought of sleeping in and his warm fireplace in his home.

But deep in his heart, he knew it could never be the same again. He had changed too much.

"Is there any chance we could play matchmaker up there?"

Luna lifted an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you mean for Ilia, do you?"

"Yeah. I mean, nothing much. Just someone without toenail fungus."

She laughed again and brought her wings back. "Of course! I'm sure that will be delightful fun."

"Then…I think that's all."

"You don't want to say good-bye?"

"I'm not sure I want to. I'd rather have her remember me as I was before I left. Besides, it would be easier for Ilia to accept me dying than me going up to become an immortal star or…what would I become?"

She shrugged. "That's up to you."

He thought for a moment. Luna's silver light was comforting, and its warmth worked to thaw the darkness he had become.

"And Zelda?" she asked.

"I guess we can say goodbye to her. I mean, weird dreams come with the job description of being chosen princess, right?"

"Definitely."

"Okay then…I'm ready."

Luna, Amourah, the moon spirit, stood. She brought Link to his feet, sending waves of strength through her touch on his hands. As she brought him to her and lifted her great, beautiful wings, he held her close.

"One other thing…"

"Yes?" she said.

"I…think I…"

She waited. When he simply looked at her, taking in her soft light, she nodded as though she understood and her eyes shone. This time when she kissed him she made no hesitation from his mouth, but pressed her own against his. He found himself kissing back, hungry for that certain something he had been wanting for over a year now. It had been that need to run as hard as he could, to pound paws against the dirt, to howl at the moon, to cry, to yell, to be somehow alive—to belong.

And he had found it in her.

When at last they broke apart, Luna beat her wings down and lifted them both up into the diamond strewn arc of the heavens as though they were made of air.

And on his rock, Squeak-squeak-trillllll-spit was too busy gaping like a squirrel has never gapped before to notice the rather pretty looking she-squirrel just behind him, holding the walnut he had dropped and considering his rather well shaped tail.

**The End**

**Author's leaving remarks: I have received many requests for an alternative ending for all those Midna/Zelda/random who knows what fans. No, I'm not being a stubborn overlord of the story, I really did consider it as a good idea. It's just…*pokes fingers together* I'm not entirely sure how to write it. This is the true ending of the story. This is what the whole story builds up to. I don't have many ideas how to make it so he ends up with Midna or Zelda without it feeling weird or without the reader feeling disconnected from the ending because it isn't, well, the **_**true**_** ending. **

**So, as an apology and also to dry your tears, here is a mini-story. Come closer, get cozy, grab some chips and dip or a warm cup of hot cocoa. Here is a little fairytale from me to you.**

There once lived a little girl who had two of the most dangerous things a little girl could have: curiosity and a craving for adventure. She lived in a quiet goat-herders village in the forest. Part of the reason she had such dangerous curses on her personality was because of the many tales the villagers (especially her mother and grandfather), of a hero who had once lived there who had saved Hyrule. Compared to the excitement of these stories, her life was awfully boring. It was too much for her to stand at times and she'd often cry to whatever god was listening that she would just die if she was forced to live in that po-dunk forest town forever without _something_ magical happening.

So, one evening, when it was just too much for the eight year old to stand, she packed her stuffed lamb, her coat, a bit of cheese, and her favorite marble (all the important things for an adventure, of course), and left her parents and her sleeping baby sisters for the night. Of course, her parents had warned her against doing just that, but you can listen to your parents all the time. Adventures didn't wait around for obedient children.

It was all quite scary, really. The trees were so tall you had to lay on the ground to see the tops, their trunks were full of shadows, and it wasn't quiet at all as she had expected. Owls hooted, wind blew, and creatures she couldn't name twittered. She almost turned around and went back to her warm bed, but then she looked up and saw the night sky. Oh, how beautiful it was, strewn with stars with a big full moon watching her. She could almost imagine a kind smile radiating from the moon's light as it spied her down on the ground.

Feel scared, but so desperate to know more of life than what she saw, she folded her hands to her chest.

"Dear moon," she said, "please, watch over me. I have to have an adventure, I really do. But I don't want it to be too scary. And, well…I don't want to die either."

Asking the sky of that calmed her down, strangely. She had to be brave, like the hero. A voice in the back of her head repeated her parents' warnings to her and whispered of how angry they would be once they found her, but the need in her heart was so desperate. She wanted to be something great, not just her boring self. If she had to be stuck in her own skin with such an unremarkable life, she would simply explode.

So, clutching her lamb, she stepped into the forest. It swallowed her up in a manner of minutes. She got excited, imagining magic and dragons and princesses and dark kings that wished to take all the light from the world.

But it didn't take long for her to become lost, and it took her even less time to realize that she was. Tears came pouring down her eyes, and the little girl became quite scared. There were more than just sparrows and squirrels in the forest, she knew. She had heard more than enough trouble with wolves attacking the goats. Not even that, but if she remembered right, the hero had faced terrible, awful monsters in there as well.

And she had stupidly forgotten to pack a sword. Not of any fault of her own, really. Her mother just wouldn't allow her 'pretty girl' to swing around a blade. Not even a wooden one.

She looked back up to the moon in the sky.

"Oh moon," she said through her running nose, "I didn't think of this. I really didn't."

Of course she didn't.

A crack of a twig sent every muscle in her body on end and she turned around with a squeak. What she saw was her worst nightmare.

A wolf. A huge wolf, with fierce blue eyes, stepping out from a tree and into the moonlight where she stood.

She clutched the stuffed lamb to her chest so hard the button eyes bulged. She began to cry harder. Adventures weren't suppose to be like this. They were suppose to be exciting and filled with magic and exploration of that big wide world she feared she never see.

As though sensing her fear, the wolf paused and lifted up its ears. Hesitantly, it took a step forward. This was the final straw for the girl and she threw back her head and let out a wail of fear and dismay. The wolf lowered its ears against the sound and whined, but she was too busy crying for all she was worth.

After a minute or so, the girl realized she wasn't dead yet. She hadn't even been bitten or scratched yet. She hiccupped and looked back at the wolf to find, to her surprise, that the wolf was on its back, paws at ease, and mouth open in a friendly, canine smile. Though it was larger than any dog she had ever seen, it acted enough like one that she cautiously came forward. When it made no move to stop her, she scratched its belly and its tongue lolled out.

"My, I was so sure you were a wolf." she said.

The wolf, not wanting to frighten her, slowly rolled back onto its paws and nudged its nose onto its back. Sniffing and clutching her lamb and her little pack, she hesitantly climbed onto the wolf's back. As soon as she was secure and clutching to handfuls of fur, the wolf launched into the night. Trees blurred past, animals let out cries of surprise, and above she thought she could hear voices laughing in the sky.

"Where are we going?"

But of course the wolf did not answer, being a wolf, but ran out of the forest and into the widest field she had ever seen. She could see the stars more clearer now, gleaming and sparkling. Her tears dried, she gave a shout of excitement as the wolf ran on and on. She could have run on forever with the wind whipping past her yellow hair and the sky laughing in joy with her. At one point a very big bird-like monster came down from the sky with a scream, but no sooner did she have the realization to be afraid than the wolf barked and it flew away.

Of course, being only eight years old, the little girl soon got very tired and fell asleep on the wolf's back. Her parents found her sleeping on the front porch that next morning and thought it very strange. They listened with amusement as the little girl told them with much gusto about how she had gotten lost in the woods and was almost eaten by bears and dragons (exaggeration makes for a good story, you see), but that a big wolf had come to rescue her and they ran across the plans and talked to the stars and all the while she could hear a lady, in the moon, laughing and singing to her. Her father was very amused by the dream, but her mother hesitated. A wolf? A lady in the moon? But of course, it was only a dream.

But the next night came and the little girl couldn't fall asleep. She knew it had not been a dream. With racing heart she went outside the door, wondering if she should risk her adventure again, to find, to her delight, the great wolf sitting on its haunches, waiting for her. Again they rode through the night, this time going as far as to cross the great field to a dry, mountainous area where a huge volcano burned brightly in the night. The houses were funny and made of metal. Again the adventure wore her out and she fell asleep.

The next morning, her parents were not amused, and didn't really listen when the girl told them of the dry, metal village she had seen in great detail. Her mother once more hesitated, but also brushed it off.

"Are you going to make a habit out of this?" asked her father. "You know there are monsters out here that would be happy to eat you up—including wolves!"

"But the big wolf will keep me safe." she said blankly.

The third night the wolf was there again. They rode on across the field to a great lake with a bridge over it. She loved how it glittered under the sky, and told the wolf so. But by the third time her parents found her on the porch, they were not happy. They were very angry.

"But this time we went to a great lake!" she cried. "With a huge bridge high high up over it. And there was a funny little house floating on the water!"

Now her mother grew alarmed, though her father was only a second away from spanking her. He yelled for a good few minutes, scaring the little girl into crying and promising that she wouldn't sleep on the porch again—even though she protested that she never meant to sleep on the porch—and when it was all said in done everyone hugged and made up and went fishing.

The next night the little girl was tortured by her second curse: curiosity. Oh the wonderful things she had seen. How could she ever sleep again for the rest of her life without seeing what the wolf could show her on the last and final night. What if there were fairies? Or princesses? What if she actually got to see Hyrule Castle?

Eventually, she came to the same conclusion as she had the first night: adventures didn't wait for obedient children.

As quietly as possible she grabbed her beloved lamb and tiptoed past her parents, past her sleeping baby sisters, and did all she could to very slowly, very carefully open the door. Her heart pounded so loudly she thought her eyes would pop out from suspense.

But then she was on the porch, and there was the wolf, sitting patiently and with those blue eyes that she had mistaken for fierce, but were actually quite kind.

And then she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder.

She couldn't breathe. She had been caught. And there was the wolf. Would her mother scream for the men? What if she did? They would hurt him! They would kill her poor wonderful wolf and hang up his skin like the others! Oh, why hadn't she thought of this? How could she have done this to the wolf who had been so kind to her?

But her mother didn't scream. She just stood there, staring, hand to her mouth. They stood there for a long time, and eventually the little girl ran out of energy to be scared and started to get quite bored.

"Mom, please," she said once she felt that it was safe to speak. "He is quite nice. Very nice. He kept me safe when I wandered off a few nights ago—which I'm really sorry for. But please don't hurt him."

Then she felt a drop on her shoulder. She turned around, and then nothing made sense, for her mother was crying. She was smiling and crying.

"Link?" she said. "Link…is that you? You told me once you could turn into a wolf, but…it has to be you. You have those same eyes."

The wolf nodded its head and wagged its tail.

The little girl was mind blown. Link? Link the hero?

"I thought you had died." her mother said.

But before either of them could say another word the wolf got to its feet and ran back into the forest. The last thing they saw of him was the white underside of his tail bouncing along until it finally vanished into the darkness.

For many nights the little girl came out onto the porch, but the wolf did not return. She cried a lot until she fell asleep and, unfortunately, would wake up on the porch to her displeased father. She survived growing up, despite her dangerous attributes, to become even more of a handful for her loved ones. Some called her brave, but many more called her reckless. She still went out into the forest, though this time with a bow and arrow (a compromise to her mother worried for her femininity). She traveled far and wide no matter the warnings, no matter how others tried to stop her, always dreaming of the nights she had sprinted across the land with a blue-eyed wolf.

On one of these adventures the woman, for she was no longer a little girl, met a man and, well, you know the ending to that story. On the night she had her firstborn son she looked out of her window when she got the sense of being watched to see a blue-eyed wolf, watching, with its tongue lolling out in a canine smile.

And to her husband's endless bemusement, she named her golden haired boy Link instead of Ralph.


End file.
